The source of this uncorrected OCR text may be viewed in the DjVu format at: http://fax.libs.uga.edu/HD2951xC776/co28 or http://purl.galileo.usg.edu/ugafax/HD2951xC776/co28 240 CO-OPERATION PUBLICATIONS —OF— THE CO-OPERATIVE LEAGUE COOPERATION HISTORICAL Per Copy Per 100 3. Story of Co-operation .............$ .10 $6.00 7. British Co-operative Movement..... .10 6.00 3fc Consumers' Co-operative Movement in U. S., 1926................. .10 6.00 39. Consumers' Co-operative Societies in N. Y. State (Published by Con sumers' League ................ .10 59. Co-operative Movement in Europe.. .05 4.00 64. Progress of Co-operation in United States. ..................... -OS 4.00 TECHNICAL 4. How to Start and Run a Rochdale Co-operative Society ............ .10 4.00 6. A Model Constitution and By-Laws for a Co-operative Society....... .05 2.50 8. Co-operative Education. Duties of Educational Committee Defined... .10 9. How to Start a Co-operative Whole sale ........................ .10 27. Why Cooperative Stores Fail...... .02 1.00 2. Co-operative Store Management..... .10 14. How to Start and Run a Women's Guild....................... .05 15. How to Organize a District Co-opera tive League ................... .10 29. Credit Union Primer (By Ham and Robinson). ................. .50 43. Co-operative Housing ............. .10 50. A B C of Co-operatic Housing.... .10 51. Model Lease for Co-operative Apart ment House ......... ...... ~ ' . 0 MISCELLANEOUS 16. Model Co-op State Law..... ...... .10 46. Producers' Co-operative Industries.. .10 11. Control of Industry by ti People through the Co-operative NL /ement .10 12. Credit Union and Co-operativ.. Store .05 1.75 33. Credit Union and Co-operative Bank .05 13. The Place of Co-operation A.^ong Other Movements ............ , .25 34. Co-operative Movement (Yiddish).. .02 1 25 30. " When the Whistle Blew " (Story, by Bruce Calvert) .............. .06 65. Reading List on Co-operation....... .10 66. International Directory of Co-opera tive Organizations .............. -6C 41. Social Aspects of Farmers' Co-opera tive Marketing (By Benson Y. Landis). .................... .25 42. Co-op Homes for Europe's Homeless .10 53. Real First Aid for the Farmers.... .05 55. A Better World to Live In........ .05 57. How a Consumers' Co-operative Dif fers from Ordinary Business...-, .02 .60 60. The " Moral Equivalent " of Jazz... .02 62. Buttons (League emblem), $i inch diameter ................... 2.00 63. Sign or Transparency'of League Em blem. Green and gold, 8 in. diam.. .25 15.00 67. Stock certificates, engraved, with League Emblem. Bound in books of 100, 200, or 250. ONE-PAGE LEAFLETS (One Cent each; 50 Cents per 100; $2.50 per 500; $4.00 per 1,000.) (1) Principles and Aims of The Co-operative League; (20) Why Loyalty Is Necessary; (21) Cost and Crime of Credit; (25) Resolutions Adopted by A. F. of L,; (26) Factory Workers Co-operate!; (28) Do You Know About Co-operation in Europe?; (40) Have You a Committee on Education and Recreation?; (44) What Is the Co-operative Movement?; (45) Schools and Stores; (47) A Man's Right to a Job- (4«\ -r- Co-operators; (49) A Way Out; (61) rn lps »° Brings Disarmament. ' "-"'Operation MONTHLY PUBLICATIONS $1.65 if paid by check. BOOKS The following books are recommended on the best discussions of the modern Co-operative ment. They may be ordered through The League- Bergengren, Roy F.: Co-operative Banking, A 1-50 Credit Union Book Blanc, Elsie T. : Co-operative Movement in Russia .............................. Brightwill, L. R.: Animal "Co-op" Book— For Children . . . . . . . $3.00 2.50 .15 ............. Chase and Schlink: Your Money's Worth, A Book for Consumers .................... 2 00 Faber, Harald: Co-operation in Danish Agricu'- ture, 1918 ............................". 2.75 Flanagan, J. A.: Wholesale Co-operation in Scotland, 1920 ......................... j.00 Gebhard, Hannes: Co-operation in Finland, 5516 2.00 Gide, C. : Consumers' Co-operative Societies American edition and notes, 1922. • Cloth 2 00 Hall, Prof. Fred: Handbook for Members of Co operative Committees ................... 2.00 Hariis, Emerson P.: Co-operation, The Hope of the Consumer, 1918. Paper bound. ....... .60 Holyoake: Rochdale Pioneers ................ 1.00 Howe, Fred C. : Denmark, a Co-operative Com monwealth, 19H ....................... 2.00 Jessness, O. B. : Co-operative Marketing of Farm P.oducts ......................... 2.50 Madams j. P.: The Story Retold. ........... .50 Mears niid Tobriner: Principles and Practices of Co-operative Marketing. ............... 3.20 Nicholson. Isa: Our Story. .................. .25 Oerne, Anders: Co-operative Ideals and Problems 1.25 Owen, Robert: Autobiography .............. .50 Poisson, E.: The Co-operative Republic. ...... 1.75 Potter, B. : Co operative Movement in Great Britain .............................. 1.00 Redfern, --cy: The Story of the C. W. S..... 2.00 Redf cy: The Consumers' Place in So- •20 ............................. 1.00 jordon & Staples: Rural Reconstruction in Ireland, 1918 ......................... 1.00 Smith-Gord'in and O'Brien: Co-operation in Denmark ........................... 1.00 Smith-Gordon and O'Brien: Co-operation in Many Lands, 1920 ..................... 1-50 Stolinsky. A.: The Co-operative Movement. (In Yiddish). . .......................... 1-00 Warbasse, J. P. : Co-operative Democracy, 1927.. 1.50 Warbas.se, J. P.: What is Co-operation, 1927... .50 Warne, C E. • Corsumers' Co-opeutive Move ment in Illinois ........................ 3-5u Webb, B. and S.: Tl.e Consumers' Co-operative Movement, 1921. Board, $2.00; cloth..... 5.00 Webb, Catherine: Industrial Co-operation, 1917. 1.5° Woolf , Leonard : Co-operation and the Future of Industry. ........ .................. )-°° Woolf, L. : Socialism and Co-operation... .•••• 1JU CO-OPERATION, Bound \ol-jmes, 1915 to 1926 inclusive, each .....................-->• Report of American Co-operative Congresses, 1920, 1922, 1924, 1926. .............•••• 1JK Northern States Year Book, 1927. Paper..... The People's Year Book, 1928. Cloth, $1-00; ^ paper bound. ....................••••••• (.Ten cents postage should be added for all books.) OFFICIAL ORGAN OF The Cooperative League of U. S. A. VOLUME XIV January—December 1928 Published by The Cooperative League of U. S. A. 167 West 12th Street, New York City INDEX A PAGE Advertising...................................................... .............. 129 Agricultural Cooperation. . . . ..................................................... 212 Alaime, V. S................................................................ . .191, 203 /Uberta Cooperative Institute...................................................... 150 Apartments, Amalgamated Cooperative.......................................22, 198, 230 Arnold, M. E..................................................................... 203 Argentina, Cooperation in....................................................... 11, 228 Askeli, Henry. . . ............................................................. 95, 197 Auditing. - - .................................................................... 158 Auto Services, Cooperative........................................................ 55 Australia, Cooperation in.................................................... 50, 69, 208 Austria, Cooperation in........................................................... 151 B Bakeries . . . - ................; ..............................3, 56, 184, 224, 230, 231 Bank, Commonwealth Mutual Savings............................................... 95 Bank, International. . . .......................................................... 9 Bankers Cooperative Magazine..................................................... 97 Banks, Cooperative.............................................................. 95 Banks, Farmers' . . . ............................................................. 75 Banks, Labor ... .......................................................... 34, 94, 211 Barmirn and Bunk................................................................ 177 Becker, Emile................................................................... 222 Belgium, Cooperation in. ...................................................50, 90, 207 Bloomington Cooperative Society. ............................................... 15, 122 •Bonding of Employees......................................................... .48, 67 Book fleviews . . . ............................................................. 96, 177 Branch, E. E..................................................................192, 202 Budget, Supporters of the League.................................................. 236 Bulgarian Appeal. . . ..............................,.............................. 128 C Calendars ...................................................................... 197 Camp, A Cooperative........................................................... 93, 117 Canada, Cooperation in. ..........30, 31, 50, 70, 89, 131, 148i, 174, 177, 203, 213, 228, 232 Central Exchange, Superior, Wis.. ......................................55, 116, 158, 234 Central States Cooperative League........................................36, 57, 77, 122 Certificate of Approval ... ..................................................... 17, 77 Chain Store Development and Grange Wholesale...................................... 163 Chain Stores . . . ................................................ 95, 133, 163, 210, 232 Chase, Stuart .... .......................................................... 7, 27, 78. Chicago, 111., Cooperation in................................................. .14, 15, 142 China, Cooperative Progress in................................................... 11, 90 Cloquet Cooperative Society, Minn............................................ 12, 52, 210 Coal in the IT. S.................................................................. 85 Colonies ........................................................................ 176 Competition . . . . . ............................................................95, 210 Comparison of Cooperatives and Profit Business Abroad.. ..........................87, 327 Commonwealth Cooperative, New York City.......................................... 93 Commonwealth Mutual Savings Bank............................................... 95 Congress of The Cooperative League, Sixth. ..................109-, 175, 190, 202, 215, 233 Consumers Cooperative Services................................................. .98, 112 INDEX Consumers in Wonderland (Stuart Chase) . .................................. y Cooperation Abroad . . . ....................... .9, 20, 50', 69, 89, 129, 148, 172, 206* 228 Cooperation and the Classes ..................................................... „ Cooperative Trading Company, Waukegan, 111. ........................... 92, 182, 221 22"i Cooperatives in IT. S. Number 11,400 ............................................. •]„„ Controversies in The League ......................................... .107, 113, 196 2l« Constitution, Change? in League ................................................. g™ Consumers' Club . . . ........................................................... jgg Corgan, Oscar . . . ............................................................... gQg Correspondence ............................................................ 38, 58, 73 Correspondence School .... .............................................. 16, 34, 76, igg Coyle, A. F. ...................................................................... 9 Credit Union League of New York State. .......................................... 95 Credit Unions . . . . ...................................................... 112, 151, 212 Czechoslovakia, Cooperation in . . . ................................................. J§Q Dairies ................................................... .32, 35, 73, 92, 94, 182, 224 Daughters of American Revolution.................................................. 104 Denmark, Cooperation in . . . ...................................................... 207 Detroit Workers Cooperative Restaurant............................................. 157 Dickenson, W. O. . . . .........................................................163, 168 Dilloiivale, Ohio, New Cooperative Co............................................12, 68 Directors of The Cooperative League.............................................12, 233 Directors' Page . . . . ..................................................16, 37, 57, 77 District Leagues . . . ....................35, 56, 76, 96, 116, 126, 136, 194, 198, 214, 233 Ditchek, D. N. .................................................................. 78 Douglas, Paul H. ................................................................ 6 Duluth, Minn., Union Consumers Coop. Assoc. of..................................... 15 E Eastern States Cooperative League..................36, 56, 76, 82, 117, 136, 198, 214, 233 Educational Work ... ...................................................... 15, 55, 75 Editorial Policy for COOPERATION ................................................... 227 Hde, T. A......................."................................................ 202 Emblem, The League ............................................................ 137 England, Cooperation in.................................11, 31, 50, 70, 90, 152, 228, 229 Essay Contest ................................................................ 52, 111 Exodus No Cure for Farmers...................................................... 231 Fail, Why Some Cooperatives...................................................... 177 Farband Cooperative Housing Corporation.......................................... 231 Farmers and Merchants. ........................................................... 135 Fanners' Cooperation . . . . ...........................................54, 134, 212, 231 Farmers' Cooperation is Attacked .................................................. 54 Farmers' Exchange, Springfield, Mass............................................... 134 Fanners' Union Banks ......................................................... 75, 95 Farmers', United, of Alberta.....................................................30, 50 Figures for Larger Societies in U. S. A.............................................. 53 Finland, Cooperation in........................................................... 1^3 Finns, Cooperation Among the..................................................... 167 Fisher, Irving . . . ............................................................... " Foreign News ... ...........................................10, 30, 50, 69, 90, 129, 148 Fort Bragg Cooperative Mercantile Corporation...................................... 55 INDEX PAGE France, Cooperation in . . . .........................................11, 30, 70, 152, 206 Franklin Cooperative Creamery Association............................32, 35, 73, 92, 94 Frederick, N. D., Cooperative Mercantile Co.......................................... 213 Furniture Insurance . . . ......................................................... 91 G f}ary Ind., Workers Cooperative Association........................................ 230 Gasoline and Oil Stations, Cooperative. ............................................. 130 Germany, Cooperation in..................................50, 130, 148, 152, 172, 206, 209 Gide, Ohas. ......•••••••••••..••••••••••••••..••..••...•••...•......••.......... 51 Gilbert, Minn., Int '1 Work Peaple's Coop. Assoc..................................... 14 GrandaM, K. E. ................................................................. 202 Grange League Federation .................................................... 113, 214 Grangers Warehouse, Kent, Wash................................................... 162 Greece, Cooperation in ........................................................... 208 H Headgear Workers Credit Union .................................................. 33 Hedberg, Anders . . . ............................................................. 96 Herron, L. S. ...............................................................192, 202 Holloway, Violet F. ............................................................. 98 Housing, Cooperative . . . ............................................. .22, 34, 198, 230 Idrott Cooperative Cafe .... ..................................................... 15 Incorporation for Cooperatives .... ............................................... 76 Increase in Production . . . . ...................................................... 5 India, Cooperation in . . . ..................................................... 129, 130 Institute ................................................................. . .135, 150 Insurance, Group . . . .......................................................... 33, 211 Insurance, Workmen's Furniture Fire.............................................. 91 International Bank, Extraordinary................................................. 9 International Cooperative Alliance ..............................................66, 90 International Cooperative Alliance and Soviet Cooperation............................ 29 International Cooperative Day ................................................ 110, 146 International Summer School .... ................................................ 94 International Wholesale Cooperation .... ....................................... 31, 96 International Woera- tive Movement, owned by and con ducted nnder the auspices of The Co-operative Union of Canada. Published monthly 75c per annum "The Co-operative Pyramid Builder" Official Organ of Co-operative Central Exchange is a snappy, live co-operative magazine. Get in line! Subscribe NOW Subscription price 50c a year. CO-OPERATIVE CENTRAL-EXCHANGE Superior, Wis. CO-OPERATION, 167 West 12th Street, New York. Please send CO-OPERATION for one year to Name. .......... Address... » - $1.00 a year,- 20 COOPERATION PUBLICATIONS —OF— THE CO-OPERATIVE LEAGUE HISTORICAL Per Copy Per 100 ..$ .10 $6.00 .10 6.00 6.00 3. Story of Co-operation ............. 7. British Co-operative Movement..... 38. Consumers' Co-operative Movement in U. S., 1926................. .10 39. Consumers' Co-operative Societies in N. Y. State (Published by Con sumers' League ................ 59. Co-operative Movement in Europe . . 64. Progress of Co-operation in United States ...................... .05 .10 .05 4.00 4.00 2.50 1.00 TECHNICAL 4. How to Start and Run a Rochdale Co-operative Society ............ 6. A Model Constitution and By-Laws for a Co-operative Society....... .05 8. Co-operative Education. Duties of Educational Committee Defined... .10 9. How to Start a Co-operative Whole sale ........................ .10 27. Why Cooperative Stores Fail...... .02 2. Co-operative Store Management..... .10 14. How to Start and Run a Women's Guild....................... .05 15. How to Organize a District Co-opera tive League ................... .10 29. Credit Union Primer (By Ham and Robinson). .................. .50 43. Co-operative Housing ............. .10 50. A B C of Co-operative Housing.... .10 51. Model Lease for Co-operative Apart ment House.................... .10 MISCELLANEOUS 16. Model Co-op State Law............ .10 46. Producers' Co-operative Industries.. .10 '1. Control of Industry by the People through the Co-operative Movement .10 12. Credit Union and Co-operative Store .05 33. Credit Union and Co-operative Bank .05 13. The Place of Co-operation Among Other Movements .............. .25 34. Co-operative Movement (Yiddish).. .02 30. " When the Whistle Blew " (Story, by Bruce Calvert) .............. .06 65. Reading List on Co-operation....... .10 66. International Directory of Co-opera tive Organizations .............. .60 41. Social Aspects of Farmers' Co-opera tive Marketing (By Benson Y. Landis). .................... .25 42. Co-op Homes for Europe's Homeless .10 53. Real First Aid for the Farmers.... .05 55. A Better World to Live In........ .05 57. How a Consumers' Co-operative Dif fers from Ordinary Business..... .02 60. The " Moral Equivalent " of Jazz... .02 62. Buttons (League emblem), $& inch diameter . . . . . . . . . .......... 63. Sign or Transparency of League Em blem. Green and gold, 8 in. diam.. .25 67. Stock certificates, engraved, with League Emblem. Bound in books of 100, 200, or 250. ONE-PAGE LEAFLETS (One Cent each; 50 Cents per 100; $2.50 per 500; $4.00 per 1,000.) (1) Principles and Aims of The Co-operative League; (20) Why Loyalty Is Necessary; (21) Cost and Crime of Credit; (25) Resolutions Adopted by A. F. of L.; (26) Factory Workers Co-operatel; (28) Do You Know About Co-operation in Europe?; (40) Have You a Committee on Education and Recreation?; (44) What Is the Co-operative Movement?; (45) Schools and Stores; (47) A Man's Right to a Job; (48) Tin. f Co-operators; (49) A Way Out; (61) Co-operatio^ Brings Disarmament. lon MONTHLY PUBLICATIONS CO-OPERATION—(In bundle lots, $7.50 per hun dred). Subscription, per year........... Jinn INTERNATIONAL CO-OPERATIVE BULLETIN (Pub. by the I. C. A.)...........Per Year, $1 50 $1.65 if paid by check. *1-3U BOOKS The following books are recommended as containing the best discussions of the modern Co-operative Move .10 4.00 ment. They may be ordered through The League: 1.75 1.25 .60 2.00 15.00 Bergengren, Roy F.: Co-operative Banking, A Credit Union Book ..................... Blanc, Elsie T.: Co-operative Movement in Russia . . . . . . ........................ Brightwill, L. R.: Animal " Co-op " Book—For Children . . . . . . . ..................... Chase and Schlink: Your Money's Worth, A Book for Consumers .................... Faber, Harald: Co-operation in Danish Agricul ture, 1918 ............................. Flanagan, J. A.: Wholesale Co-operation in Scotland, 1920 ......................... Gebhard, Hannes: Co-operation in Finland, 1916 Gide, C.: Consumers' Co-operative Societies American edition and notes, 1922. Cloth.. Hall, Prof. Fred: Handbook for Members of Co operative Committees ................... Harris, Emerson P.: Co-operation, The Hope of the Consumer, 1918. Paper bound........ Holyoake: Rochdale Pioneers ................ Howe, Fred C.: Denmark, a Co-operative Com monwealth, 1921 ....................... Jessness, O. B.: Co-operative Marketing of Farm Products ......................... Madams, J. P.: The Story Retold............ Mears and Tobriner: Principles and Practices of Co-operative Marketing................ Nicholson, Isa: Our Story................... Oerne, Anders: Co-operative Ideals and Problems Owen, Robert: Autobiography .............. Poisson, E.: The Co-operative Republic....... Potter, B.: Co-operative Movement in Great Britain .............................. Redfern, Percy: The Story of the C. W. S..... Redfern, Percy: The Consumers' Place in So ciety, 1920 ............................. Smith-Gordon & Staples: Rural Reconstruction in Ireland, 1918 ........................ Smith-Gordon and O'Brien: Co-operation in Denmark. . . . . . . .................... Smith-Gordon and O'Brien: Co-operation in Many Lands, 1920 ..................... Stolinsky, A.: The Co-operative Movement. (In Yiddish). ...... ...................... Warbasse, J. P.: Co-operative Democracy, 1927.. Warbasse, J. P.: What is Co-operation, 1927... Warne, C. E.: Consumers' Co-operative Move ment in Illinois ........................ Webb, B. and S.: The Consumers' Co-operative Movement, 1921. Board, $2.00; cloth..... Webb, Catherine: Industrial Co-operation, 1917. Woolf, Leonard: Co-operation and the Future of Industry ........,..............••••• Woolf, L.: Socialism and Co-operation........ CO-OPERATION, Bound Volumes, 1915 to 1926 inclusive, each ....................••••• Report of American Co-operative Congresses, 1920, 1922, 1924, 1926, each..........--• Northern States Year Book, 1927. Paper..... The People's Year Book, 1928. Cloth, $1-00; paper bound .................•••••••• (Ten cents postage should be added for all $3.00 2.50 .15 2.00 2.75 2.00 2.00 2.00 2.00 .60 1.00 2.00 2.50 .50 3.20 .25 1.25 .50 1.75 1.00 2.00 1.00 1.00 1.00 1.50 1.00 l.SO .50 5.00 1.50 1.00 1.50 'm ' (MENTION A magazine to spread the knowledge of the Cooperative Movement, whereby the people, in voluntary association, produce and distribute for their own use the things they need. Published Monthly by THE COOPERATIVE LEAGUE 167 West 12th Street, New York City CEDRIC LONG, Editor tered as Second Class matter, December 19, 1917, at the Post Office at New York, N. ¥., under the Act of March 3, 1879. Price $1.00 a year. VOL. XIV, No. 2 FEBRUARY, 1928 10 CENTS i*. -.. r ••*- '* m AMALGAMATED COOPERATIVE APARTMENTS as they appear from one end of the t-ejifrci Court. This latest addition to cooperative housing colonies m New YorTt City is the first and only housing organization in the State thus far to take advantage of the new State Housing Law and so win exemption from taxation on its buildings for 20 yews, an item which reduces the monthly rental charges by more than $2.10 per room. 22 COOPERATION COOPERATION 23 Amalgamated Cooperative Apartments On Christmas Day 500 people assem bled to celebrate the opening of the Amalgamated Cooperative Apartments, the latest cooperative housing accom plishment in New York City, center for so many experiments in cooperative housing. Aaron Rabinowitz, member of the State Board of Housing, expressed the opinion of many experts like himself when he said, "The Amalgamated apartments are among the best accom modations that have ever been con structed in this city for families of wage earners, and demonstrate most forcibly the possibilities of the State Housing Law." To know just what he meant it is necessary to review some of the past history of this effort of the organized clothing workers to provide low priced living quarters for themselves in the world's largest city. In 1924 some of the members began to talk cooperative housing, and in 1925 land was purchased fronting on Mosholu Parkway, just south of Van Cortland Park. Before houses could be built, however, permission had to be obtained from 14 owners of real estate in the vicinity, for the district is so restricted that apartment houses cannot be built without consent of adjoining property owners. And it took a long time to get that agreement signed. However, ground was finally broken on Thanks giving Day, 1926, and the building begun. The first member-tenant moved into the first completed house on Novem ber 1, 1927. The relationship of this colony to the Union of the Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America is close. It was the leaders of the union who planned and put through the vast enterprise. It was the special A. C. W. Corporation, stock of which is owned by the union, which did the actual construction supervision after buying the land. It was the Amal gamated Bank and the -Amalgamated Credit Union which helped finance the building operations and the individuals who.wanted to take apartments (at an initial payment of $500 per room). But the completed colony itself is an independent organization, incorporated under the ordinary business law of the State and supervised by the State Hons- ing Board, but with all the stock to be owned by the tenant members. Thus though many union organizations had a finger in the organization and financin» of the colony, now that it is completed they retire to permit the householders themselves free and complete control. There are nearly 50,000 members of this clothing union in the Greater New York area, yet the majority of the people living in the houses are members of other unions. In fact, approximately one- third of the 303 apartments are occupied by members of this particular union one-third by members of other garment trade unions, and one-third by members of miscellaneous unions and a few non- unionists. The Physical Structure The land belonging to this organiza tion is one entire block and a part of another block: the equivalent of 50 ordi nary lots 50 x 100 in size. . Across the parkway is being built the new De Witt Clinton High School at a cost of $6,000,- 000, the largest school in New York. Equally close is the new group, of build ings of Hunter College. City parkways border the cooperative land on the east and on the south, and a very short dis tance to the north is the huge Van Cort land Park. The originators of the project deter mined that there should be an abundance of light and air for every room, so they built on less than 47 per cent of the land and left the rest open for park and play ground. Thus there are no rear apart ments, and there are no rear rooms. In fact, every room looks out on some kind of a park, either the one belonging to the organization, or one of those belong ing to the city. The open space running down the center between the buildings is 566 feet long. There are 1,185 rooms, all of good size. Apartments are of 2, 3, 4, or £> rooms each. Buildings are five stones high without elevators. Between 300 THE COOPERATIVE HOUSES as they appear from Mosholu Parkway. ' Tliey cover cm entire city block, and there is one other house on the block beyond, hidden from the range of this picture. and 500 men worked on the grounds and the buildings. The president, A. E. Kazan, and his associates took nothing for granted, but carefully checked the cost of every piece of work and all material purchased, so that only the highest quality and the lowest prices passed muster. There are six buildings in all. The heat and hot water are supplied by a central plant of four oil boilers with average consumption of 1,000 gallons per day. Each apartment has a gas rang'e, a refrigerator, bath tub and shower, hardwood floors, incinerator, and very large closets. Walls and floors are well insulated to cut the noises down to the minimum. Finance One of the most interesting features of the organization is the financing of it. Three years ago the A. C. W. Corpora tion began collecting funds from pros pective members, but the small contribu tions which each individual could make wre a mere pittance as compared with the initial funds necessary for purchase «i land and early construction work. In tart, ftl.400,000 was spent before the buildings were in condition for the ^anting of the first mortgage by the ^letropolitan Life Insurance Company. u»s is a large amount of money and the organizers had to work hard to raise it; $479,000 came from the individual tenant-owners, $250,000 was loaned by the Jewish Daily Forward, and $172,000 was a first mortgage loan on the land advanced by the Amalgamated Bank. The remaining half million came from six subsidiaries of the Amalgamated Clothing Workers Union in the form of loans, all guaranteed by the union. On December 1, 1927, however, the Metro politan Life Insurance Company granted a first mortgage of $1,200,000 at 5 per cent, and enabled the organization to repay many of these short-term loans. To-day the entire $1,825,000, which is cost of land and buildings, is covered by this mortgage and the $625,000 invested by the tenant-members. This works out to an average cost of $1,625 per room. The annual cost of operation and maintenance is estimated at $150,000, divided as follows: $47,400 for light, heat, insurance, repairs and administra tion; $60,000 for interest on borrowed money; $20,000 for amortization of first mortgage; $5,000 for taxes on the land (taxes on buildings are exempt for twenty years under the special Housing Law utilized by the organization) ; and $18,000 dividend at 3 per cent on the capital subscribed by the members. This last item is used as an emergency fund during the first year or two, in case 24 COOPERATION COOPERATION 25 other expenses have been underesti mated, and members may possibly have to forego their dividends at first. This overhead expense, reduced to terms where it is best understood by the aver age householder, means $10.75 per room per month "rent." The actual charge being made is $11, so there is provided a safety margin of more than $7,000 annually. But this $11 is remarkably low for any kind of new building in New York, even where all the other social and financial advantages are not to be had. In fact, two years ago prospective mem bers were told that monthly charges were to be from $12 to $14 per room. The fulfillment is much better than the promise. How can these rents be kept so low? It is partly due to this tax exemption. On that one item alone the officers esti mate a saving of $2.11 per room per month. Then the low financing costs, both in building and in the first mort gage, save the tenants another $3 per room per month that would in most houses be charged against them. In fact, the cost of building was $100,000 below the low estimate made by the experts of the Metropolitan Life Insur ance Company. The Cooperative Services There is now being organized the A. C. W. Service Corporation, in which tenant-members of the houses may buy stock at $25 per share. This is the organization which will later operate stores and other commercial enterprises. But a beginning has already been made even without this formal organization. When the lighting system was installed in the buildings, one central electric meter was ordered, and the Edison Com pany has nothing to do with the local meters of each apartment. Current is sold to the houses through this one meter at wholesale rates, and each tenant is then billed by his own organization for current which he consumes. Here is one saving. Ice is handled in the same way, an employee of the organization taking the ice from the wholesaler and distributing it among the families. Milk is bought. bottled, but in wholesale quantities, and the same employee distributes the'milk and cream to all the apartments Recently the purchase of eggs VP& started under the same auspices Finally, a huge bus is owned by the organization and used to transport the children to the nearest primary school three-quarters of a mile away; on Satur days it carries parties of the younger children to the distant streams or the larger parks. In the basements of the buildings are a gymnasium, a large assembly hall and a soundproof music room. The playground with its appa ratus will be located across the street. Is It Cooperative? That is the question which many people will ask. Technically, there may be some reasons for doubting the cooper ative character of the organization, because it does not come under the cooperative corporations law, and the principle of only one vote for each mem ber cannot be enforced. Actually, most of the cooperative features are inherent in the organization. Each person may have four or five votes instead of one, but in the long run there is a very gen eral equality, and at meetings the Roch dale vote will be used for all practical purposes. Members are tenants, and tenants are members—a feature which is lacking in many of the smaller and older housing associations in Brooklyn and Manhattan which have proudly carried the title "cooperative" for many years. All benefits from economical operation are returned to the tenants either in cash or in reduced rents and other services. No sub-letting is permitted, and apart ments can only be sold back to the organ ization. Surely there are no really essential principles lacking. And the chief reason for not incorporating under the cooperative law is the necessity for getting under the new State Housing Law which grants tax exemption for twenty years. So long as there is that $2.11 saving on each room every month, without the sacrifice of any fundamental cooperative principles, the members car presumably get along without the actual legal status of a cooperative. They have the substance, and can let the shadow go. t'KT ,-*,-.«««!*»>: THE AMALGAM A TEtD BUS wTnch cavrieg the children of the members to the school which is three-quarters of a mile away. On Saturdays and Sundays this car is used for excursions- into the country, thus giving the mothers and the babies their share of free auto rides^ The] 1ms is owned by the Association and one of the men employed about the buildings acts as driver. Who Are the Officers In Charge? The president is A. E. Kazan, for many years an ardent cooperator and at present in charge of the Amalgamated Credit Union as well as of the housing organization. B. C. Vladek of the Daily Forward is vice-president. The secre tary is Jacob Potof sky, one of the officials of the union; and the treasurer is Adolph Held, cashier of the Amalgamated Bank. "A thousand gifted orators telling the workers what they could do if they would with their massed money power could not be as convincing as the group of six buildings in the upper Bronx. There stands against a winter skyline a more convincing argument for cooper ation than was ever uttered by the most gifted speaker. They are a promise of what all the workers some day will do for themselves." So writes Charles Ervin, editor of Advance. The other cooperative housing groups in New York, in fact cooperatives of all kinds, will welcome this newest and very significant addition to the cooperative societies in the United States. It is such demonstrations as these latest housing associations of Greater New York which promise a powerful influence in the future. THE PROFITEERS GET RICHER The number of people who receive annual incomes of more than a million through the exploitation of the pro ducers and consumers increased in 1926. Total income received 1925 1926 Number of such incomes 206 228 Total income received .. $464,363,644 $490,309,478 The number of people who get more than one million of income has been going up pretty steadily during the past fourteen years. They have numbered as follows: 1914...... 60 1921. 1915...... 120 1922. 1916...... 206 1923. 1917...... 141 1924. 1918...... 67 1925. 1919...... 65 1926. 1920...... 33 21 67 74 75 207 228 In 1925 there were only seven people with incomes of more than five millions. In 1926 there were 14 with such incomes. Though these incomes do pay taxes to the government, such taxes amount to only 11.17 per cent of all taxes paid. •I COOPERATION 27 26 COOPERATION The Point of View By J. P. WARBASSE COOPERATION AND THE CLASSES I have spent much time lecturing among the colleges. Usually I meet the classes in economics. In some colleges I have spoken before the whole student body in chapel, or before some special group in social ethics, labor problems, or sociology. Often a session has been held with the advanced students in eco nomics or with the Liberal Club of the college. - Members of the faculty have always been present. Except in chapel, a question period has followed all lec tures. I have had from one to three lectures in each college before these various groups. I have had similar experiences among the trade unions, on some occasions go ing into their halls all the way across the country from the Atlantic to the Pacific. It is my practice to present Coopera tion not in the form of propaganda, but as a scientific economic problem to be discussed from the standpoint of its ac complishments as well as its economic and social connections with life and labor. There is a rather prevalent idea that college students are taught a lot of eco nomic bunk and that most of them are wasting precious time by going to col lege at all. As one meets college students he de velops a respect for their learning. So far as our better colleges are concerned it is neither an easy thing to get in nor is it any less easy to stay in. A pretty high degree of scholarship is required for each. I have been impressed by the good un derstanding of the fundamentals of eco nomics and by the interest in these prob lems which the students display. The question period is most illuminating. College students ask intelligent and searching questions. In the trade union, in the church, in the general forum, and before the busi ness men's clubs, one hears some foolish questions. But not in the college lecture room. When students hear a lecture which presents an economic system which would displace capitalist profit business and cause the political state to fade away and become unnecessary, they have listened to the most radical' doc trine that is discussed. It is interesting to observe how sympathetically they re ceive it and how dispassionately they discuss it. One realizes that it is not radicalism that intelligent people are afraid of They have fear of what calls itself radi calism and that would bring disorder and suffering into society without the power of systematic and effective or ganization of the economic forces after the disorder is created. Real radicalism, that can go on and prove that it has the power to build a better and more just society, without being preceded by chaos and without producing suffering, is accepted and con sidered with intelligent interest and sympathy. Intelligent understanding of these facts and intelligent interest are not confined to any class of people. The student body in the department of eco nomics in the average American college is quite as radical and quite as sympa thetic to a radical program as is the average of the working class people in the same community outside of the college. That is not saying a great deal. Neither of them responds sympatheti cally to what generally is called radical; and what really is not. Both respond sympathetically to the program of Co operation. The Cooperative Movement in the United States does not fill a pressing need in the lives of the people because the people do not understand that they really need it. Only by education will they come to that understanding in the present state of industry and prosperity. This education is slowly reaching the people who want it. A culture is being- built up which is friendly to the great change that Cooperation brings. Consumers in Wonderland By STUART CHASE (Continued from January number) FAST SALES FOR FAST CARS The speedometer for a well known car is made under specification by another famous company. The specifications re quire correct reading up to 35 miles an hour with a gradually increasing error in the direction of more registered speed than actual speed, to 75 miles an hour. On this deliberate error, advertising copy has been based and thousands of cars have been sold. Mr. John C. Dinsmore of the Univer sity of Chicago invited 10 famous brands of'white enamel paint to decorate a test room for a period of two years. The brand which received the majority vote for being in the worst condition at the end of the period was one of the most widely advertised, one of the highest priced, and one of the most reputable of them all. This is disturbing news for one who has been repeatedly assured that reputation is always based solidly on performance rather than on page spreads. "THIS IS NOT ADVERTISING, IT'S THE TRUTH" In a recent advertisement in the Sat urday Evening Post, the United States Rubber Company makes the observation that "these statements are facts, not ad vertising copy.'' Which is a dirty crack at advertising copy if T ever heard one. Another nice distinction is made by certain advertising men who say—I quote from R. L. Hunt of the George Batten Corp. "that since the public is going to discount the statement anyway, it should be made stronger than the facts warrant so that its actual effect may be more nearly what is deserved.'' In Printers Ink for October, Mr. Brian Rowe discusses the "Creation of Obso lescence"—As a Sales Device. He won ders—and the consumer cannot fail to wonder with him—why "we struggle to keep waste out of manufacture and de liberately create waste in consumption.'' His thesis is that there is a growing tendency to speed up changes in style, to shorten the life of products that once were made to last and that now are made with an eye single to early obsolescence. He cites men's clothing, kitchen uten sils, furniture, motor cars, linen, phono graphs, watches, collars, spark plugs, crank case oil, hats. He says that qual ity is getting worse and that obsolescence is "wilfully created by an increasing number of manufacturers." I am not sure that the case is quite as dark as he paints it, but Mr. Rowe raises a point of profound economic importance. If ad vertising and salesmanship are forcing' the American productive mechanism to make two cars where one would suffice, two sets of furniture, two overcoats, two phonographs, two radio sets, industry is throwing away half its labor power, half its raw materials, and thus holding the standard of living to 50 per cent of what it might be. Is this a situation which can properly be called progress? Or is it in the last analysis the throttling of progress ? • Says the Radio section of the New York Sun: "There are two things wrong with advertis ing in genera] and radao advertising in parti cular. One fault is fraudulent statements. Of the 14 full-page advertisements in a recent issue of a radio magazine, one-third were mis leading—two cases bordering on what we should term fraud. The manufacturers are responsible for this. When they themselves have not conceived the exaggerations, they have permitted their agencies to play them up. "The other fault is gentle exaggeration and genera] blurb. This is the public's fault. So long as we consumers play up to Barnum—so long as we fall for flattery and prefer it to a straight tale of quality and results—so long will this valueless verbosity be a large share of value received." The Sun. if I may say so, said a mouthful. WHAT WE POOR DUFFERS WANT This is only the briefest of glimpses into the Wonderland in which the inquir ing consumer finds himself; sometimes 28 COOPERATION COOPERATION 29 funny, sometimes not so funny. We have the documentary evidence to fill at least two more books. The cases are not universal, but they are altogther too frequent. With the result that uncer tainty among such consumers as have minds superior to that of the amoeba is universal—for a great variety of prod ucts. They are never sure with an un tried article whether they are going to get their money's worth or get gloriously stuck. Even old and tried products have a habit of changing their formulas some times. And so a ragged battalion of us are crying for more facts and less poetry. As consumers we want more reliable information about the quality, the util ity, the cost, and if you please, the thera peutic value of the necessities, and even some of the luxuries, that we purchase. We do not, or at least I do not, want all the technical facts about everything be low the line of super-luxuries—it would bore me to death—but every now and again when I am buying a suit or a shirt or a vacuum cleaner or a pair of shoes or an oil heater—and didn't I get stuck with an oil heater—I would like to feel a little more intelligent and a little less like a helpless idiot. I would like an authoritative and independent source to which I could turn for help. From the interest that people are taking in what Mr. Schlink and I have written, it ap pears that I am not alone in this desire for a few less slogans and a little more light. The consumer has his part, how ever small, in the great epic of American salesmanship. He has to pay for it. It is his case, and his case only for which I have the presumption to plead. To hold that anything can come of that pleading is, I grant you, presumptuous. When one surveys dispassionately the lowly and turgid mass which is the con sumer on the one side, and the efficiency, the intelligence and the impregnable assurance of you gentlemen who know your business so well, on the other, it seems almost hopeless. I am doubtless a fool not to play golf, read the American Magazine, catch the 8:26 from Bronx- ville and save at once my breath and the strong probability of languishing in the lock-up for libel. The consumer's case I know something about. I am one. For him, if he should ever have red blood enough to want them, I have a number of constructive- no, defensive, suggestions. But to tie well disciplined army on the other side of the Rubicon I can only hurl defiance_ puny, ill-advised, but passionate. In respect to price, frankly I do not see how it is possible to reconcile the two points of view—that of the seller and that of the buyer. It can be done with a fine flow of rhetoric—full of such words as "service," "common aims" "cooperation," "two parts of a united whole"—which leaves us all feeling per fectly splendid, but without an iota of an effect upon our tangible behavior when we get back to the desk or the counter. The buyer is trying to get the maximum of goods for his dollar, while the seller is trying to get the maximum of dollars for his goods. No amount of apple sauce can bridge this chasm. That is why I object obscurely and vocifer ously to the rank hypocrisy of the whole modern cult of "service." As a buyer I am going to use my purchasing power to force as much in the way of quantity as I can get. As a seller you are going to collect the last cent the traffic will bear. You always have done so, you always will—until the rules of the game of business are altogether changed. Let us admit this obvious fact, and stand embattled but devoid of hypocrisy, face to face. I make the claim, and I think that I can prove it, that in all too many lines the consumer is not getting his money's worth. He has been tempted, flattered, cajoled, frightened, coked up, threatened, sex appealed to, misinformed—until his mind, as an instrument for appraising value, is a jelly. This may or may not be good for business, but it certainly is not good for the consumer. CAN WE BOLL OUR OWN? Of course his mind may be too far gone ever to be resuscitated to function with intelligence and discretion. Per haps he is destined forever to walk his mile for a dromedary—though Dr. John B. Watson has proved that, blindfolded, scarcely one man in ten can recognize his favorite cigarette; to read unsmiling the label '' guaranteed not to fade; fast olors," and to buy n^s furniture on the assurance that it is made of lumber from contented trees. But a few of us are waking up and setting off as many alarm clocks as we can lay our hands upon. Ttfe represent the buyer, first, last, and all the time. We have no more respect for the tender susceptibilities of the seller, than he has had in the past for us Which is precisely nil. He has forced his goods upon us by every con ceivable legal means, and as the Federal Trade Commission can tell you, by means that have frequently been not so legal. Against that sales forcing, that employ ment of all the arts of wonderland to make us buy what we too often do not want and do not need, we—the alarm clock squad—propose trenches, tanks, barbed wire, machine guns and every defense—except poison gas. To hell with business when it over charges me, misinforms me, adulterates my goods, or hits me below .the belt with subtle psychological appeals. The more that sort of business piles up on the rocks the better I shall like it. Meanwhile if enough of us lowly consumers demand more facts and less poetry about the goods that we buy, there will be plenty of business men ready to meet that sort of demand. What proportion of manu facturers in recent years have gone cas cading to eternity because their goods were better than their sales appeal? But, gentlemen, confidentially between ourselves, I do not think that you need to worry very much—at least just yet, as Professor Veblen would say. There is only a cloud as big as a man's hand in the sky. You always know what you want and the consumer mostly doesn't. Some day perhaps the worm will turn and we—you my friends and possibly two chastened bad boys—can all lean over the window ledges of heaven to gether—our halos slightly askew—and Watch the show. It ought to be good. (The End) Cooperation Abroad SOVIET COOPERATION AND THE INTERNATIONAL COOPERATIVE ALLIANCE The leading article in the December number of the International Coopera tive Bulletin is on the above subject. It is evident that the Executive Committee of the Alliance realizes that something must be done about the relation of cooperation to communism. The last three congresses of the Alli ance admitted the Russian communists, who took more and more of the time of each congress to talk communism to the exclusion of cooperation. The situation has now become so serious that there is grave doubt ex pressed by cooperators as to the wisdom of holding another international cooper ative congress. The feeling has grown very strong that another congress, with Russian communist representation, will be the last that the cooperators of the world will be able to stand. The article says: "For some time past the attitude of the Soviet Cooperative Organizations towards the work of the Alliance and many of its mem bers has given cause for uneasiness, and has led to acute controversy in the meetings of the authorities of the I. 0. A., that is to say, the Executive, Central Committee and even the Congress itself. There can be no sort of doubt that the work of each of these bodies has been hampered and made difficult by the continuous demands of Bussian cooperators for the moon, or its equivalent, and the obstructive tactics with which they have sought to force upon the Alliance their own particular views—always ex treme and rarely within the constitution or rules of the Alliance. "Their constructive proposals or endeavors have been practically nil, except for the pro motion of aims which are outside Hie concep tion of International Cooperation, and which are only possible of attainment by political action. "The question of the Neutrality of the Alliance and the limitations ifc imposes upon our activities hag 'been constantly in dispute, and endeavors have been made to give to it the most i elastic interpretation possible. There has been a general disposition on the part of the Alliance and its members to concede as much as possible to the representatives of a country which was evidently working out its economic and political salvation under cir cumstances of extreme difficulty. But that sympathetic attitude has' not implied any approval of the system that the Russian co- operators are endeavoring to set up and, still 30 COOPERATION COOPERATION 31 Ill less, of (the methods and tactics by which they seek to attain their ends. "Step by step, the Soviet cooperators have been slowly increasing their attitude of aggression towards, and irreconcilability with, all that exists oultside their own regime until, at the Stockholm Congress, they appeared as an organized opposition to everything which had not a Soviet origin, and they succeeded in occupying the time of the meetings with futile discussion of extremist proposals calculated to rend the Alliance asunder, but euphemistically dressed in the garb of measures of progress and the promotion of ideals. Never before have the leaders of Soviet Cooperation stood forth as they did at Stockholm, stripped of all pretence of supporting the aims of the I, C. A. except so far as they could be interpreted in terms of communism, the 'united front,' and the dictatorship of the proletariat. "We were frankly puzzled at Stockholm with their attitude; to see them scatter to the winds all the efforts of those in the Alliance who had thought it worth while to conciliate and find compromises for them, to repudiate all responsibility for anything but their own conceptions of the aims of Internationa] Cooperation, and withal to adopt such a trucu lent air was, all things considered, an amazing exhibition.'' The Bulletin then goes on to show the broken promises of the Russian com munists, their violation of agreements, their obstructive tactics, their misrepre sentations, and their attacks upon the cooperative movement. After seven years of experience the situation grows worse and worse. "To return ito the questions of Neutrality and the tactics of the Bussian cooperators gen erally, need it be emphasized that the Alliance has the right and the duty to exact from all its members adherence to its principles and statutes? When any member arrives at the point that it is unaible to give that loyal adherence, there is only one alternative. " In our view the time has come when the Alliance and all its authorities should adopt an attitude of strict objectivity towards the Bussian or Soviet Cooperative .Organizations. The efforts which have been made in the past to conciliate and to smooth the way for them have been mistaken for weakness. The con cession of to-day has become the basis for new claims to-morrow. Let there be an end to compromise with irreconcilable elements, render them the strict justice which the rules provide and let us remember that the democratic principle and, still more, the cooperative motto, 'Each for All and All for Each' visualize the equal rights of the cooperators of 36 countries in the Alliance." This position of the International Alliance is similar to that in the United States. J. P. W. ITEMS The United Farmers of Alberta Canada, an organization similar to the Farmers' Union in this country, has inserted the following interesting amend ment into its constitution: "The railway fare of all duly quali- fied delegates to the annual convention shall be borne equally by all delegates and for this purpose the central secre tary shall estimate as nearly as possible the average railway fare in advance and advise all locals of same, and all dele gates whose round-trip fares are less than this average shall be required to pay into the pool the difference between their round-trip fare and the average. "Immediately the delegates are all registered the secretary shall estimate the correct pool rate and shall pay to all those whose total fare is greater than the pool rate the difference between the pool rate and the fare paid. "In the event of the first estimated pool rate being greater than the correct pool rate a refund of the difference between the two rates will be made to those delegates that had paid into the pool." An effort is being made to establish a cooperative wholesale for the consumers' cooperatives and for the supply pur chasing departments of the producers' cooperatives in the. province of Sas katchewan, Canada. "L'Action Cooperative," the four- page weekly of the National Federation of Consumers' Cooperatives of France, went out of existence with the year 1927. On January 1, 1928, was published the first number of a new paper, "Lie Cooperateur de France," a semi monthly, much larger than the old sheet, on better paper with many added features, such as photographs. It was certain to be issued with a minimum circulation of 215,000, and it is expected that this will increase rapidly. T October representatives of the tral organizations of the cooperatives Cf" three republics bordering on the Baltic Sea, Esthonia, Latvia, and ifthuania, met at Kovno, Lithuania, to Lciiss the possibilities and value of collaborating in the exchange of tech- •cal information, the standardization "f laws and educational material, and in the establishment of reciprocal and ventnally common, economic relations. \ committee was instructed to prepare bv-laws for a "Baltic Cooperative Wholesale," and it was decided to hold another meeting early in December. At the instance of the Cooperative Marketing Board of the Province of Manitoba, Canada, twenty-six delegates of consumers' cooperatives in the province met on November 16th to discuss their mutual problems. They passed a resolution asking the board -to attempt to develop a standard system of accounting for cooperatives, to under take education in consumers' coopera tion, and to seek to have the provincial Cooperative Associations Act amended to require each society to submit a monthly statement to the Registrar of Cooperative Associations. It was also decided to form a federation to under take wholesale purchasing, for the time being; on a brokerage basis, and a com mittee was chosen to proceed with the formation of the "Manitoba Cooperative Wholesale, Limited." A margarine trust has recently been formed in England. Cooperators are not concerned about its possible influence on prices in view of the fact that the English Cooperative Wholesale Society has a huge factory producing 470 tons of margarine and lard products a week, which supplies 95 per cent of such com modities sold through cooperatives in England. on the international trade of the various national cooperative wholesales of Europe. Exclusive of Russia, these pur chased, in the first six months of 1927, commodities from outside the borders of their respective countries to an amount in excess of $141,500,000, of which more than $48,000,000 worth came from North and South America. At its 1925 Congress the Cooperative Union of Great Britain, in conjunction with the English Cooperative Wholesale Society, established an Agricultural Committee to advise consumers' societies in their activities in agricultural pro duction and to foster the development of cooperative associations of independ ent farmers for the marketing of their produce and to draw such organizations into membership in the Union, thereby furthering close relations between con sumers and producers. Early last December the C.W.S. withdrew from the joint committee. Thereupon the Union ceased its work in the above con nection. The reasons for both acts have not been clearly stated. From comments in the English cooperative press it appears that there are some who regret the step while there are those who on the other hand maintain that the aims of consumers and producers coopera tives are too much in opposition for them to be able to function within the same national federation. The International Cooperative Whole sale Society, preparatory to engaging in business, has been compiling statistics As a result of the paper on "Some Problems of Present-day Cooperation," presented by Mr. Albin Johanssen of the Swedish Cooperative Federation at the twelfth congress of the International Cooperative Alliance at Stockholm last August, the Austrian cooperative central organization is engaged in every town where there are competing cooperatives in merging them into one. In further ance of -this work the Union of Kailway Workers early in December voted to cede to the cooperatives all its stores for the supply of its members and to cause its members to join the cooperatives. E. A. N. 32 COOPERATION COOPERATION News and Comment ONE LABOR LEADER ON COOPERATION The president of one of the best known International Labor Unions in America recently wrote the following in an editorial in his paper: "I have never been very much in love with Labor cooperative institutions. Some years ago I attended the convention of the Illinois State Federation of Labor and at that time Illinois had gone clear mad about cooperative institu tions. On that particular day when I attended the convention there was present a great ex ponent of the cooperative plan and he men tioned the wonderful work of the cooperative movement in England, but I felt confident and was positive that everything he said about the movement in England was wrong (although it had made money for its stockholders). "I visited England in 1911, and I made somewhat of a study of the cooperative move ment, and the fact of the matter was the cooperative movement in England was employ ing non-union labor in nearly all of its departments, sold in its numerous stores only non-union made goods, and the .stockholders included bankers, merchants, lawyers, doctors and the unorganized in the district. I do not mean by this that there were not thousands of workers and many union men holding stock in those cooperative stores in England, but I do say there were many non-unionists and profes sional men holding stock, and that those institutions were run on a eold-blooded business basis, buying as cheap as they possibly could and also hiring men at as low wages as possible in order that they might make money for the stockholders. "Anyone who has made a study of these institutions will not, and cannot dispute this fact and will agree that this statement of the cooperative movement in England, where it has made more money, perhaps, than in any other section of the world, is absolutely true. "Cooperative movements have been started in this country on numerous occasions and there may be many Instances that I do not know about, but the many movements of this kind1 which I have watched have been almost complete failures. At first they seemed to prosper, and did, while selling stock or while they were being subsidized by the Labor Move ment. "The Illinois Mine Workers subsidized the cooperative movement in Illinois to the extent of hundreds of thousands of dollars and when they ceased subsidizing it, it went to the wall, with all kinds of charges and countercharges made against those handling the institution, and vice versa, leaving a trail of suspicion and loss behind' them. . . . "There is, however, a milk company in Minneapolis, known as the Franklin Dairy Com pany, a cooperative institution, which is going along and making money, but the story of thi institution is as follows: "The trade union movement in that city pu* it on its feet, the members bought the stock and boosted it in every way, but today the trade unionists have lost control of a majority of th stock, which is now in the hands of noif unionists, and, as I am informed, the institu tion is not now very much in sympathy with the Milk Drivers Union, which was responsibl for making it what it is today. There is also within its fold a company union which em braces within its membership all of the workers from the manager in the office down to the janitor. It pays a benefit but is purely a company union and while not working openly against our union, it is not working in harmony with the legitimate trade union of drivers and dairy employees. . . . '' There are several independent, or privately- owned dairies, that are 100 per cent organized and the owners of those dairies are just as friendly, if not more friendly, towards our union drivers and helpers than is the Franklin Dairy, which is a cooperative institution. It seems at the present time that the policy of the Franklin Dairy is to forget its friends_ the trade unionists—who made it what it is today, and to pursue the policy of cold-blooded corporations, grinding out of the men all it possibly can in order to make greater profits for the stockholders. . . ." The following month the president of the Franklin Cooperative Creamery made a long trip to meet this labor leader and to explain the true nature of Co operation and especially of the Franklin Association. The labor leader then made another trip to Minneapolis; and this is the editorial taken (in part) from the next issue but one of his paper: "I just returned from Minneapolis where my visit was indeed very interesting and bene ficial. I went all through the plant of the Franklin Cooperative Creamery Association and I want to say, to me, it was not only interesting but was also very enlightening. A more perfect, high-class institution in the dairy business, in so far as the distribution of milk and butter is concerned, is not to be found anywhere. "First, let me say, I had received a great deal of misinformation relative to this institu tion, which prompted a previous editorial, and, second, in so far as I could find out _relations of the best and most harmonious kind exist between our union and this cooperative concern. "Perhaps it would not be amiss at this time to say that this, cooperative plant was created as a result of a strike of the milk wagon drivers of Minneapolis about six years ago. The men went on strike for recognition ol their union and better wages and working conditions. The employers in the dairy is- t the time refused to grant the conditions. m, men got together and through the aid of of the other trade unionists in the district "J, formed the Franklin Cooperative Cream- • Association, which has grown from a small 6iJ t to an instituton with assets and resources Plan 0£ over $1,500,000, and this is not taking "°fo consideration the good will of the associa- J-n which is an item of great importance. "Every employee in the institution, man or IOTI is a member of the union: the book- •fffQUldiiLj *-" , keepers, stenographers, carriage and wagon akers, horse-sheers, harness makers, painters, "L all belong to the union. As far as I ouk find out, it is the only institution in America where everyone in any way connected ^ith the concern carries a union card in his respective union. There was over $1,000,000 worth of stock sold to trade unionists and their friends in and around Minneapolis. "Should anything happen to this institution it would be a severe blow to the cause of labor, because it was founded, and its work has been carried on, by the trade unionists in that dis trict. Every member of the Board of Directors js a trade unionist. I learned during my investigation that this institution, in many instances, pays more than the union scale calls for. The success of this association depends entirely on the management. Like any other institution, it is human and if it should be mismanaged it could not possibly carry on. The men who are now guiding its destiny, especially the president, Mr. Nordby, seem to thoroughly understand their business and results prove that they have been quite successful. "Of course, Local No. 71 Milk Drivers and Dairy Employes' Union has to deal and treat with this cooperative plant the same as with any of the other employers, and where there are three or four hundred men employed there are always grievances—some imaginary and some real. Whenever a real grievance exists there is not much difficulty in adjusting it. OUT OF THE ASHES AT MILWAUKEE Seven years ago the members of the Milwaukee Consumers' Cooperative As sociation were sailing high in the clouds. Large capital, big membership, five stores. The backing of the Socialist municipal administration. There were over-confidence, unwillingness to take cooperative advice, disregard of sound business methods. Three years ago the first audit was made, and the accountant stuck a pin into the glorious balloon, and a great crash followed. Most of the members climbed out of the ruins, dusted them selves off, and walked away never to return. But this crash was different from those which have taken place in so many other American cities—Seattle, Balti more, San Francisco, Denver, Chicago. There remained a sad but wise remnant of the membership to pick up a few of the broken pieces and to start building over again. The old manager was dis charged and one of the loyal members, Axel Hansen, put in charge. All the stores were sold out but two. And then, in the face of a $23,000 deficit, the slow climb started. It is now about three years that the Association has been following sound business methods, having a monthly audit, getting a rapid stock turn and discounting all bills. Each month a gain of one or two hundred dollars is record ed. The deficit is reduced by one-fourth. And it is not only the business which makes gains. The Women's Guild has just reorganized with Mrs. J. E. King as President, Mrs. Ed. Eadtke, Vice- President, Mrs. Sarah Mclntosh as Secretary and Mrs. Irene Mock as Treasurer. Business is running about $90,000 a year, and last year a gain of $2,400 was realized. This year they will do as well. There are 1,200 shareholders on the books, but fully half of them never see the cooperative any more. Edward Eadtke is President, William Baird, Vice-President, J. F. Friedrick, Secretary and Treasurer. On the even ing of the 18th of November, a group of 35 members turned out on short notice to hear talks by Cedric Long, by their President, Secretary and Accountant, and to discuss plans for the future. GROUP INSURANCE FOR COOPERATORS The Cooperative Club, a subsidiary of the Headgear Workers' Credit Union, is one of the first cooperatives in the country which has utilized the group policy plan for insuring its members. It is more than a year since the officers of this enterprising New York credit union have been working out a feasible program and everything is now com pleted. Two hundred and sixty members have already received their policies. These policyholders are not subject to any medical examination and the cost 34 COOPERATION- II is the same for everyone, regardless of age. For a $1,000 policy, each member pays but $1 per month. The Headgear Workers' Credit Union continues to make very rapid progress, the paid-in capital now being over $185,000. A complete report on the year's activities was presented to a large membership meeting on Monday, Janu ary 16th, held in Beethoven Hall, which is the headquarters for the Headgear Workers' Credit Union. ANOTHER LABOR BANK GOES BACKWARD The Federation Bank of New York now boasts of being the largest bank belonging to organized labor in New York State. The officers do not publicly boast of the action taken by its stock holders a few years ago when they, by means of proxies for thousands of shares of stock, voted to remove the 10 per cent restriction on dividend. At the close of 1925 the directors declared an extra dividend of 12 per cent in addition to the regular dividend of 8 per cent; 20 per cent dividend in all. At the most recent annual meeting of stockholders, held January 11, 1928, the president said: "We are as cooperative as the law permits us to be." In marked contrast to this action is the recent decision of the directors of New York's other labor bank, "The Amalgamated Bank," to increase the interest on savings accounts from 4 per cent to 4% per cent in 1928, keeping the stock dividend meanwhile to the custom ary 8 per cent. HERE'S LOYALTY During the last six months' period, the People's Cooperative Society, Superior, Wisconsin, purchased its staple groceries as follows: From the Cooperative Central Exchange .............. .$20,967.00 From the Heinz Company.... 281.00 From other sources......... 850.00 Almost 95 per cent of its purchases from its own Wholesale. And if the Heinz products were not counted (for they are sold direct by the manufacturer and not carried by the Exchange), then the figure would be more than 96 per cent. COOPERATION PROFESSOR COLSTON E. WARNE of the Economics Department of the University of Pittsburgh, is Director of the Cooperative League Correspondence School. His coopera tive experience well fits him for the difficult work of organizing these courses, writing much of the text for some of them, supervising the correcting and grading of papers. For an entire summer he travelled over the State of Illinois, visiting every cooperative society known and scores of cities and towns where cooperatives had previously existed. The mas sive amount of material he gathered during this survey formed the foundation for his comprehensive and scholarly book CONSUM ERS' COOPERATIVE MOVEMENT ID ILLINOIS, published by the University of Chicago Press. Professor Warne is also a member of the Board of Directors of The Cooperative League of the U. S. A., and makes frequent trips about the country which enable him to keep closely in touch with many of the cooperative societies. MORE COOPERATIVE HOUSING The latest cooperative house in New York City is the one just purchased by a group of three hundred men and women at 110th Street, overlooking Central Park. For several years there have been two cooperative housing associations coffl- 35 osed of young Jewish workers. One P ^g Unity Cooperative Association, organized by women, the other was the Workers' Mutual Aim Association, com- Dosed of single men or young married ouple8 with011* children. Late in the ininier of 1927 these two associations "joined forces and purchased this new property on 110th Street, moving into new quarters in October and There are 220 rooms in all, and each member pays approximately $125 down in cash. The monthly charges then come to $20 and upward, according to accommodations. The rooms are com pletely furnished and a certain amount of service is supplied. A restaurant seating 300 people is in the basement, also a library and reception room, and a gymnasium. Wage workers only are admitted to the association. The building is nine stories in height and has elevator service. Valued at the time of purchase at $355,000, the association spent an additional $25,000 on improvements. Then, after procur ing a $200,000 first mortgage, the balance of the necessary funds were raised by the membership subscriptions and by a second mortgage loan floated among the workers themselves. "DEPRESSION" IN THE OIL INDUSTRY The papers have been filled during the past year or two with stories of over production and low prices for gasoline and other oil products. These stories indicated that a very severe depression had arrived, with unemployment for workers, loss of dividends for stock holders, reports of deficits from the heads of the corporations. Here are the actual facts. Dividends for 1927 exceed those of 1926 by more than $13,000,000 and set a record for all time. They are more than three times as large as those for 1914, and twice as large as the entire capitalization of the old Standard Oil Company, parent of all these companies of the various states. Since the old company was dissolved in 1911, total dividends of more than two billions of dollars have been distributed in cash and nearly one and a half billions in stock. On a capitalization which in 1912 had a par value of less than $300,000,000, dividends of 12 times that amount have been paid in fifteen years to a few millionaires and their associates. Cooperative oil companies are being- organized by the farmers at a rapid rate, and these companies are saving much money for their members. When will they be numerous enough and sufficiently united to own their oil wells 1 CONCERT OF FRANKLIN CHORUS Eighteen hundred people turned out to the recent Third Annual Concert of the male chorus of Franklin Coopera tive Creamery Association in Minne apolis. Three musicians from the Min neapolis Symphony Orchestra assisted the chorus and gave some special selec tions. Local musical critics praised the work of the chorus in no unmistakable terms, and had particular commenda tion for Olaf Halten, the director. District Leagues NORTHERN STATES LEAGUE Fourth Training School. On Decem ber 10th this school came to a formal c|ose. Thirty-seven students had been in attendance, 34 of them full time; 23 had come from Minnesota, 5 from Wis consin, 4 from North Dakota, 2 from Michigan and 1 from Illinois. The average age of the students was twenty mo; 38 per cent were women; 34 mem bers of the class were born in the United States. Classes met for seven hours each weekday except Saturday when the day was shortened to five. On the last evening a commencement entertainment was given, a committee of the students in charge. Speeches were delivered not alone by instructors and students, but by leaders in the coopera tive moX'ement in Minnesota as well. 36 COOPERATION COOPERATION 37 The celebration, though directly man aged by the students, was under the general auspices of the Educational Com mittee of Franklin Creamery and the Northern States League. Secretary's Annual Report. The Year Book in 1927 was for the first time on a self-supporting basis, income of $2,100 paying for all printing expenses and for two months time of the editor. Appeal is made to executives of all cooperative societies to try to find places for the graduates of the training school. Brothers Siegler and Alanne visited the Annual Convention of the Minnesota State Federation of Labor and again got them to affiliate as fraternal members. Newly organized Twin Cities Workers Cooperative has applied for affiliation, and Economy Fuel Company of Minne apolis has gone out of business. The new auditing department is in full swing, handling the books of more than 20 creameries in January. Dues of more than $900 have been paid into the national office this year. Trips have been made by the secretary to Waukegan and several other places, and a more extended piece of field work is planned for the near future. Tear Book. Inasmuch as the N. S. League has already authorized the pub lication of its own Year Book in 1928, the matter of participation in a national year book was laid over until 1929. EASTERN STATES LEAGUE Board Meeting. The directors held a meeting during the last week of Novem ber, all members being present. Finan cial report for the year 1927 (prepared later) showed income of $1,500 from 18 affiliated societies, and other income bringing receipts to $3,289. Expendi tures were $3,770, the biggest item being $1,171 for training school. Buying Committee reported taking on several new lines of groceries; and recommenda tion was made that incorporation of a buying organization be investigated and, if feasible, enacted. Since the meeting a sub-committee of two has been working on this. Glowing reports were rendered of progress made by the New York Joint Education Committee. It was recommended that a study be made of means whereby dues from societies could be increased so as to meet th growing expenses of the League. It Was decided to participate in a national Cooperative Year Book when suitable arrangements can be made with North ern States and National League offices" It was voted to hold the annual conven tion at Stafford Springs, Connecticut sometime in the spring. ' New Members. The three most recent additions to the membership of the East ern League are the Stelton Cooperative Association, a store society run by the Stelton Educational Colony, Stelton N. J.; the Jewish National Workers Cooperative Homes Association, a new cooperative housing organization of 125 families in the Bronx; and the Workers Credit Union of Fitchburg, Mass., one of the oldest and best credit unions in Massachusetts, with a membership of approximately 1,750. Second Weed-end Conference. On Sunday, January 8th, the most represen tative delegate conference of New York cooperatives ever held was convened at "Our Cafeteria" by the Educational Committee of the League; 15 coopera tive societies, which operate stores, butcher shops-, bakeries, restaurants, apartment houses and credit unions, sent more than 40 delegates to take part in an all day discussion of educational problems. Plans were made for another training school in the spring, for two lecture courses this winter at local societies for their employees and one central lecture course open to all cooper- ators, a speakers' bureau, distribution of cooperative literature among the teach ers of sociology and economics in the New York High Schools, and for a summer picnic if such can be arranged. The afternoon session was devoted to a discussion of Mr. Long's report of the International Cooperative Congress at Stockholm and the methods which should be used to get across to trade unionists in New York the message of Cooperation. CENTRAL STATES LEAGUE Directors' Meeting. Seven of the ten directors were present at the meeting on December 4th. Report of treasurer showed income of $3,707 for six months, the largest item, $1,048, being from int buying activities. Educational ind propaganda display cards printed monthly are being distributed to socie ties in all parts of the country. Report f failure of Glen Carbon Society brought out the fact that this member of the League had not applied for any assistance nor even notified the office of its demise. Three societies of the League are now using the auditing service of the National League. Since the year's subsidy to Central States Cooperator from Mr. Zwiek is completed the first of 1928, motion was made that a printing plant be purchased and Mr. Warinner's offer to do the typo graphical work on the paper next year be accepted; thus the expenses of pub lication can be greatly reduced. Mean while the December and January num bers of the paper will be waived pend ing the purchase of the new plant. Second Annual Congress is to be held in Bloomington in May. Joint purchase of potatoes, coffee, malt is going well, and first shipment of C. W. S. tea is now en route from England. Secretary- Treasurer Zombro resigned and his place is being filled by J. C. Alien. Directors' Page ANOTHER FOURTEEN POINTS Do You See To It That Your Merchandise Inventory Is Properly Taken? 1. An inventory committee should be chosen by the Board of Directors, from its own members, or the membership at large. As a rule it should include the manager. 2. In preparing for the taking of stock the committee should make sure that enough inventory blanks are on hand. The committee should divide the store into zones, each of which is to be covered by two or three definite members of the committee. If proper plans are not made the committee is liable to perform its task in a haphazard manner, possibly leaving part of its work unfinished. 3. Each crew of the inventory com mittee works most efficiently when one member does the counting and calling, another checks this work, and a third one writes the data down. 4. Itemized statements should be re quested from all creditors, and Accounts Payable balances proven. It should be ascertained that all merchandise has been billed or that all deliveries have been made for bills payable. 5. Consignment or commission goods must not be included in the inventory. Neither should merchandise be included for which no invoice was received. Goods sold but not delivered should be left out of the inventory. Goods held in storage must be confirmed by the storage houses before adding them into the inventory. 6. If the inventory is taken while the store remains open for business care must be taken that all goods taken into the new inventory and sold during that day are deducted from the day's sales, providing the accounting period is to end on completion of the inventory. 7. Wrapping supplies, office supplies, fuel, ice, etc., should be listed separately. 8. Inventories should be listed in du plicate, one copy to be left with the man ager, the other with the inventory committee. 9. Inventories must be priced by per sons familiar with current market prices. They can consult representatives of wholesalers as well as price books. 10. Pricing should be either at cost or market whichever is lower. 11. Provisions must be made for odds and ends, goods out of style, articles more or less shopworn. (Cost marks cannot be relied upon exclusively unless they were first tested as to their accu racy.) 12. The calculating, as also the pricing of the inventory, should be done inde pendently both by the committee and the management. 13. Any possible qualifications should be noted and the inventory should be certified by the signature of the members of the committee. 14. Finally, the auditor or audit com mittee should be furnished with the two completed inventory copies, so as to com pare them, and when found to be correct, 38 COOPERATION COOPERATION 39 to use them in making up their final statements. The accuracy in taking inventory can not be stressed too strongly since a dis crepancy will throw off entirely operating statement or balance sheet of a society, and might result in ultimatp failure. Correspondence File BRIEF HISTORY OF A CAELOAD OF CABBAGE Editor COOPERATION : After standing in a. slump from the beginning of the season, the Pittsburgh quotations for Danish Ball cabbage, car lots, began to rise pretty sharply, and reached $19.00 per ton on November 12. Not yet aware of the strange ways employed in hurry-up price hoisting to cover supply shortages, and being also en couraged 'by telephone to quick action, this hopeful ordered an empty car for loading. The car arrived at the station in a day or two, but the' next day's quotations began to show falling prices. After another day or two in loading and traveling to Pittsburgh, the car finally reached there on the 17th when the prices were $9.00 to $12.00 per ton. The report showed the car contained 22 tons, 1,100 Ibs., a,t $12.00 per ton, $270.60; less freight $159.64; demurrage, $2.00; dealer's commission at 10 per cent (not merely on the cabbage, but on all of the freight both ways) $27.06; balance to producer, $81.90 or $3.64 per ton. This may pay for the lime, phosphate and seeds used in the production. As for the plow ing, cultivating, spraying, harvesting, loading, etc., these can all be marked down to healthful exercise. It is well understood iby many farm ers that the pleasure (?) of owning their land and paying their taxes constitutes the principal part of their compensation for capital invested. But one may be cheered by the knowledge that the Fairmont wholesale purchaser of this cabbage sold it to retailers at $19.00 per ton, and retailers sold to their customers .at $80.00 per ton, that is 4c per pound. The prices have continued about the same to the producer a,t Pittsburgh, $9.00 to $12.00 per ton, and to the consumer at Fairmont about $80.00 ever since; so the transaction represents a very ordinary course' of business; the producer gets about $4.00 per ton, the consumer pays about $80.00 per ton. All of which may tend to show the difficulty •in convincing some farmers of the benevolence of our marvelous methods of transportation and marketing. Some, doubtless the more radical, irresponsible and disgruntled, have a little ques tion as to whether there may not ;be something wrong in this best possible of all economic worlds. They may even question the perfec tion of an entire competitive system that culmi nates every so often in the butchery of a, few million men to fortify the principle of the survival of the fittest. It can be said for the milk business that a good deal of this now-you-see-me and now- you-don't-see-me stuff has been ended; By pooling their product through cooperatives - which now control about 90 per cent of th output, and toy standardization of grades and methods, and 'by periodical collective price fix ing in conferences between producers and dealers and representatives of the public the producer has some fairly definite idea of the compensation he will receive for his labor; and the consumer also some idea of the rate he will have to pay. Of course, producers' cooperatives are not perfection and finality and do not eliminate competition. Consumers' cooperatives are the kind to do that. But the producers' cooperatives are better than nothing and have added a degree of rationality to what can be called, -without much exaggeration a chaos of cutthroat competition. ' EENEST O. KOOSEE. Somerset, Pa. FROM THE COLORADO MINERS Editor, COOPERATION : Your letter received and contents carefully Thanks for the information. To tell the truth, I have never studied the cooperative movement, except in a general way, and I would like to learn what the technical details of operation are, methods of raising capital and so on. I really do think that in case cooperatives are started in Colorado, that they should be oper ated absolutely independently of the Union. It is a question of what form of organization we are going to bring out of this strike, hut I believe it will be a real organization. Even the bluff that cooperatives would be established in Colorado has had quite an influence on the small merchants in the strike districts; as you say, it is the small business element that fur nishes the mobs to do the dirty work for their Masters. A good example of that was what happened in Trinidad this last week, where they formed a vigilant's committee and raided the Union hall, destroyed all the property, and arrested 110 strikers. I have been trying to implant the idea of cooperatives in Colorado, as I really do think it is a. big item. Moreover, it would make the workers more interested in Unionism, if it can be carried out successfully. We will see what the next six months brings forth, and possibly by that time it will be possible to have co_ operatives in the different coal towns of Colorado. A. K. PAYNE, Sec.-Treas., Metal & Coal Worker's Industrial Unions, Nos. "210, 220. COOPERATIVE DEMOCRACY Second Edition completely revised by JAMES PETER WARBASSE president of Tlie Cooperative League of the United States of America Member of the Central Committee of the International Cooperative Alliance . nigcussion of the Consumers' Cooperative Mnvnment in Its Relation to the Political «ate to the Profit System, to labor, to Agriculture and to the Arts and Sciences " \Ve hope Dr. Warhasse's hook will find readers throughout the world"—G. J. D. C. Ooedhardt, ex-President International Coop erative Alliance MACMILLAN & CO., New York, Publishers Order from The Cooperative League, 167 West 12th St., New York, U. S. A. Price, $1.50. The Cooperative Union, Holyoake House, Han over St., Manchester, England. Price 6 sh. German Edition: Verlagsgesellschaf t deutscher Konsumvereine, Strohhause 38, Hamburg, Germany. Price, 6 marks. IS YOUR FURNITURE INSURED IN A COOPERATIVE COMPANY? This Company is 55 years old It has 50,000 members Its rates are the lowest Is there a branch in your town? If not, why not? WORKMEN'S FURNITURE FIRE INSURANCE SOCIETY Care of Cooperative League, 167 W. 12 St. NEW YORK CITY STUDY COOPERATION AT HOME Correspondence Courses prepared and con ducted by experienced cooperators are now ready 1. Elementary English 2. Commercial Arithmetic 3. Bookkeeping for Cooperators 4. Advanced Course in Bookkeeping 5. Principles and Theory of Cooperation For full particulars write THEI COOPERATIVE LEAGUE 167 West l'2ith Street New York City The Canadian Cooperator Brantford, Ontario, Canada The organ of the Canadian Coopera tive Movement, owned by and con ducted under the auspices of The Cooperative Union of Canada. Published monthly 75c per annum "The Cooperative Pyramid Builder" Official Organ of Cooperative Central Exchange is a. snappy, live cooperative magazine. Get in line! Subscribe NOW Subscription price 50c a year. COOPERATIVE CENTRAL EXCHANGE Superior, Wis. COOPERATION, 167 West 12th Street, New York. Please send COOPERATION for one year to Name. .................................... Address..... $1.00 a year. 40- COOPERATION PUBLICATIONS ~^- _OF— THE COOPERATIVE LEAGUE HISTORICAL Per Copy 'Per 100 3. Stiy of Cooperation ..............$ .10 7. British Cooperative Movement...... .10 38. Consumers' Cooperative Movement in/ U. S., 1926 .................... .10 39. Consumers' Cooperative Societies in f>T. Y. State (Published by Con sumers' League) ............... .10 59. Cooperative Movement in Europe. .. .05 64. Progress of Cooperation in United States. ..................... .05 TECHNICAL 4. How to Start and Run a Rochdale Cooperative Society ............. .10 6. A Model Constitution and By-Laws for a Cooperative Society........ .05 8. Cooperative Education. Duties of Educational Committee Denned... .10 9. How to Start a Cooperative Whole sale.. ....................... .10 27. Why Cooperative Stores Fail....... .02 2. Cooperative Store Management...... .10 14. How to Start and Run a Women's Guild.... .................. .02 15. How to Organize a District Coopera tive League .................... .10 29. Credit Union Primer (By Ham and Robinson). ................... .50 43. Cooperative Housing .............. .10 50. A B C of Cooperative Housing..... .10 51. Model Lease for Cooperative Apart ment House .................... .10 MISCELLANEOUS 16. Model Co-op State Law. ........... .10 46. Producers' Cooperative Industries... .10 11. Control of Industry by the People through the Cooperative Movement .10 12. Credit Union and Cooperative Store. .05 33. Credit Union and Cooperative Bank. .05 13. The Place of Cooperation Among Other Movements ............... .25 34. Cooperative Movement (Yiddish)... .02 30. " When the Whistle Blew " (Story, by Bruce Calvert) ............... .06 65. Reading List on Cooperation....... .10 66. International Directory of Coopera tive Organizations .............. .60 41. Social Aspects of Farmers' Coopera tive Marketing (By Benson Y. Landis). .................... .25 42. Co-op Homes for Europe's Homeless. .10 53. Real First Aid for the Farmers..... .05 55. A Better World to Live In........ .05 57. How a Consumers' Cooperative Dif fers from Ordinary Business..... .02 60. The " Moral Equivalent " of Jazz... .02 62. Buttons (League emblem), $£ inch diameter .................... 63. Sign or Transparency of Lea_gue Em blem. Green and gold, 8 in. diam. .25 67. Stock certificates, engraved, with League Emblem. Bound in books of 100, 200, or 250. $6.00 6.00 6.00 4.00 4.00 4.00 2.50 1.00 1.75 1.25 .60 2.00 15.00 ONE-PAGE LEAFLETS (One Cent each; 50 Cents per 100; $2.50 per 500; $4.00 per 1,000.) (1) Principles and Aims of The Cooperative League; \.4O} ritciurj* vvoiitcis ^uupci aic:, v—, ~~ --- About Cooperation in Europe?; (40) Have You a Committee on Education and Recreation?; (45) Schools and Stores; (47) A Man's Right to a Job- to Cooperators; (49) A Way Out; (61) ' Brings Disarmament. MONTHLY PUBLICATIONS COOPERATION.—(In bundle lots, $7 50 wr u dred). Subscription, per year.... Pr >" INTERNATIONAL COOPERATIVE "f---"* (Pub. by the I. C. A.)...........Per $1.65 if paid by check. BOOKS The following books are recommended as containin the best discussions of the modern Cooperative Move ment. They may be ordered through The League: Bergengren, Roy F.: Cooperative Banking A Credit Union Book....................... Blanc, Elsie T.: Cooperative Movement in Russia.. . . . . . . . . .................... Brightwill, L. R.: Animal "Co-op" Book—For Children. . . . . . . . . ................... Chase and Schlink: Your Money's Worth, A Book for Consumers .................... Faber, Harald: Cooperation in Danish Agricul- $3.00 2.50 .15 2.00 ture, 1918 .............................. 2.75 Flanagan, J. A.: Wholesale Cooperation in Scotland,' 1920 2.00 Gebhard, Hannes: Cooperation in Finland, 1916 2^00 Gide, C.: Consumers' Cooperative Societies American edition and notes, 1922. Cloth. 200 Hall, Prof. Fred: Handbook for Members of Co operative Committees .................... 2.00 Harris, Emerson P.: Cooperation, The Hope of the Consumer, 1918. Paper bound....... .60 Holyoake: Rochdale Pioneers................. 1.00 Howe, Fred C.: Denmark, a Cooperative Com monwealth, 1921 ........................ 2.00 Jessness, O. B.: Cooperative Marketing of Farm Products ......................... 2 50 Madams, J. P.: The Story Retold. ............ .50 Mears and Tobriner: Principles and Practices of Cooperative Marketing................. 3.20 Nicholson, Isa: Our Story.................... .25 Oerne, Andres: Cooperative Ideals nad Problems 1.25 Owen, Robert: Autobiography................. .50 Poisson, E.: The Cooperative Republic......... 1.75 Potter, B.: Cooperative Movement in Great Britain............................. 1.00 Redfern, Percy: The Story of the C. W. S..... 2.00 Redfern, Percy: The Consumers' Place in So ciety, 1920 ............................. 1.00 Smith-Gordon & Staples: Rural Reconstruction in Ireland, 1918 ........................ 1.00 Smith-Gordon and O'Brien: Cooperation in Denmark........................... 1.00 Smith-Gordon and O'Brien: Cooperation in Many Lands, 1920....................... 1-50 Stolinsky, A.: The Cooperative Movement. (In Yiddish) ............................ 1-00 Warbasse, J. P.: Cooperative Democracy, 1927. 1.50 Warbasse, J. P.: What is Cooperation, 1927.... .50 Warne, C. E.: Consumers' Cooperative Move ment in Illinois ......................... 3.50 Webb, B. and S.: The Consumers' Cooperative Movement, 1921. Board, $2.00; cloth..... 5.00 Webb, Catherine: Industrial Cooperation, 1917.. 1-50 Woolf, Leonard: Cooperation and the Future of Industry ............................. }•* Woolf, L.: Socialism and Cooperation......... l-:*> COOPERATION, Bound Volumes, 1915 to 1926 inclusive, each ........................... *•" Report of the American Cooperative Congresses, 1920, 1922, 1924, 1926, each............. !•* Northern States Year Book, 1927. Paper..... •*> The People's Year Book, 1928. Cloth, $1.00; paper bound ............................ (Ten cents postage should be added for all books.) A magazine to spread the knowledge f the Cooperative Movement, whereby the people, in voluntary association, produce and distribute for their own use the things they need. p t..c/t nt Second Class matter, December 19, 1917, at the Post Office at New York,, N. Y., tinder the Act of Enterea m March 3, 1879. Price $1.00 a year. Published Monthly by THE COOPERATIVE LEAGUE 167 West 12th Street, New York City CEDRIC LONG, Editor VOL. XIV, No. 3 MARCH, 1928 10 CENTS «e_':. HEADQTJABTERS OF THE BOCK COOPERATIVE COMPANY, Eock, Michigan. This structure, .housing the general store and offices of one'of Michigan's most successful consumers' cooperative associations, is but one. of nine ..-which ..the organization owns. In fact, a good part of the land and a fair proportion of all the buildings in the town seem to belong to these farmei" cooperators. One of the newest'additions to the group of buildings is the little gasoline station squatting to the right of the-Main Store. • ••• •• •• - 42 COOPERATION COOPERATION 43 Cooperation at Rock, Michigan A cooperative society can do wonderful things in a small town. The one in Eock, Michigan, proves it. Here is a cooperative so completely supported by its farmer members that it can do for them almost everything that the private merchant, the law court or the bank tries to do in the average community where those institutions flourish. The Bock Cooperative Company, in addition to all its ordinary business dealings with its consumer members, will get the doctor for the family when a new baby is expected; perform the marriage ceremony for the same child twenty years later (the manager is a justice of the peace) ; organize the forest gang and buy the timber land by means of which the man makes his living; and when old age has laid its heavy hand upon the worn-out worker, forcing him back into bed, again call the doctor, later brin» to the house the coffin, and see that the erstwhile cooperator is given a decent burial. Bock is a small farming community of about one thousand souls. Three- quarters of the families are Finnish. There are only two merchants in the town: the cooperative (to which almost every family belongs) and one Swedish com petitor. More than one-half of all the business transacted goes through the books of the cooperative company. There are 375 member-shareholders, which means an average of more than one per family. Not only does the organization own a very substantial part of the vacant land in the center of the village; it owns nine buildings as well: the central store, the warehouse next door (over which is a dwelling), a barn, a bath house, another warehouse, a cheese factory (operated by private capital), a new- warehouse for feed, the post office building, and two dwelling houses (one of them newly built, of stucco). Groceries, clothing, household utensils, hardware, feed, farm machinery, the equipment and raw materials with which farmers work,—these may be found in most well-stocked country stores. The Bock Company also runs a gasoline station and even buys new cars for the farmers who can afford such expensive contraptions. It rents out several of its buildings and realizes a substantial income from this source. It buys eggs and cream from the farmers and markets them in other cities farther south. It takes savings deposits from its members and writes checks for those who want to send money away: thus acting as a banking house for people who have no access to a bank. The manager, in his capacity of justice of the peace, writes deeds, executes other legal business, settles local disagreements. Perhaps the most unusual and interesting service rendered by this all-purpose institution is that of organizing and operating its "forest products" depart ment. Several years ago the leaders of the association noted that farming was not in a sufficiently prosperous condition really to support these people ade quately. Was there not some other industry which could be developed? What other natural resources ready for exploitation were there, anyway? Timber. For the past thirteen years the sales of forest products has been a regular source of income for the cooperative, and a regular source of employment for very many of the men. The society employs an expert timber man, Oscar Niemi, who works with the gangs of cutters. When a gang has found a tract of land it wants to purchase, it comes to the cooperative. Oscar Niemi is sent out to look the tract over, appraise it, bring his figures back to the cooperative. If all goes well, the company negotiates with the owners in behalf of the men, M EMPLOYEES OF THE BOCK CO- OPEBATIVE COM PANY. The Manager, A. N. Bivers, stands front center. On his right is the bookkeeper, and on his left the head of the staff of clerks. The young men and women in the rear are clerks and drivers. perhaps even takes title to the land itself. Niemi is put in charge of the camp and its operations. Only the very best of equipment is used in these camps; the men have not only good blankets, but even linen on their beds, the finest of food,—in short, such accommodations that the average woodsman in other parts of the state will not believe that these conditions are possible for gangs working in the timber. The wood itself, when hauled out, is sold for the men by the • cooperative on a commission basis. Thus are the farmers in and about Bock, Michigan, able to farm their own tillable land in the summer and in the winter to farm the forest land which lies all about them. The society at Rock is not one of these isolated, independent cooperatives which feels it needs no contact with the rest of the movement. That kind of organization is common in America, but no such charge will be brought against the cooperative run by these farmers. It affiliated with the Cooperative Central Exchange and the Northern States Cooperative League in 1925. It actively participated in the summer festival jointly conducted in 1927 by half a dozen societies in the immediate territory at Marquette, where 1,500 cooperators met to have a day of rest from their work and a good time together. It has made arrangements with the Cooperative Trading Company of Waukegan, Illinois, whereby the latter takes the eggs it has to sell and is a regular customer for its cream, making this into butter for the city workers. It is one of the active supporters of the national movement, not only by the payment of dues, but by special contributions to help meet the budget of The Cooperative League. Today COOPERATION COOPERATION 45 the Accounting Bureau of The League is working with the company in an effort to get a refund of taxes wrongly assessed against the cooperative on the businp«G of 1923 and 1924. It is said that statistics are deadly uninteresting. Those who feel that way naturally will not want to look at the following figures. But there are others who see in such reports as those appended a more powerful argument for cooperation than all the propaganda in the world. Tear 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 3919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 Totals Merchandise Sales $877.68 27,269.42 30,275.11 28,503.20 45,191.28 71,271.71 117,567.88 140,156.74 112,633.44 110,186.20 106,916.75 116,893.04 131,066.46 132,420.51 144,864.50 $1,316,088.92 Forest Product Sales $1,502.20 42,840.34 13,047.28 33,428.10 114,959.62 112,492.97 202,248.58 181,953.17 80,138.88 76,817.84 89,633.36 110,666.34 150,469.56 85,391.22 $1,295,589.55 During these fourteen years the business has paid back to its customers in interest and rebates approximately $85,000, which, had there been no coopera tive, would have gone into the pockets of some enterprising business men. In fact, the business men would probably have taken much more, for their prices would have been higher. Total assets of the company are $147,945, half of it being accounts receivable from customers. Share capital amounts to $45,200, and the savings fund of members comes to another $28,873. The surplus (exclusive of $6,743 net gain on last six months' business of 1927) is $25,872. Net gain for the entire year 1927 was $12,272. There is not going to be any attempt made here to give the names of the men and women who have made the biggest contributions to the success of this cooperative business which has done so much for the country in and about Eock. There are too many of them, men, women and even children. But the officers at present are: George Halonen, President • Andrew Aalto, Vice-President; John Maki, Secretary; John Seppala, Vice-Secretary; John Hakanen, Treasurer: and Frank Eyti, John Aho, Thomas Linjala, Charles Laukkanen, Directors. The manager for several years past has been A. N. Eivers. Andrew Kainula was president for many years previous to 1928 and put a great amount of time and effort into building up the organization and the business to its present dimensions. Almost any of these men, if you ask them the chief reasons for the universal popularity and success of their cooperative, will say that next to the service which their society has given to the workers and farmers, the outstanding reason is to be found in the strict adherence to the principle of complete religious and political neutrality, keeping clear of all matters of opinion which might arouse controversy withirl the ranks of the membership. The Point of View By J. P. WAEBASSE A VOYAGE TO VORBASSE I had long wanted to see the life in a small Danish village remote from the nters of intensive civilization. I wished to see the quiet folk in action. The secretaries in The Danish Travel Bureau, at Copenhagen, smiled when I asked for directions to go to Vorbasse. "Nobody ever goes there; people only come from Vorbasse," they told me. "Well," I said, "the town is destined to be treated to an exceptional experience; I am going to Vorbasse." Where can the traveller stop? Is there an hotel? Xone. No "Kro." No inn. But there is the "Mission," to be found in every Danish village, where the stranger may find lodging. So Eric and I left Copenhagen at 8:30 in the morning. From Veijen we got an automobile to drive us the ten miles, and \ve arrived at Vorbasse at five in the evening. A sweet and restful spot. We called on schoolmaster Thompson, and had a pleasant visit with him in his home, situated between his barn and the school—all three connected as one build ing. He is the big and dominating man of the community. His wife and the other members of the family sat round and knitted while we talked. His voice is so large, they say, "he drowns out the sound of the organ when he stands up in his pew and sings on Sunday morning." He pointed out to us the Pastor's house. The Pastor was not home but we found Mm at the church across a field of rye. Pastor Degenhardt and his lovely wife are busy people, visiting the sick, advis ing the folks on social questions, solving problems for the parish, and conducting services in three churches. On Sunday I drove with them to two churches each in the midst of fields—not houses. Preaching the gospel, baptizing infants, holding communion service. Good substantial stone churches. They will be there still to witness the baptism °f the descendants of these infants for generations to come. The music of the organ, the sunlight streaming through the windows, the Pastor in his robe of black and great white ruffled collar, the straight and somber garb of the men and women, all spoke of solemn and ancient institutions. The world and its people change slowly. Quick change is never permanent. The village doctor Ilenriksen is an other important man. Such a refined home one does not see in small towns in America, His beautiful wife at the piano played with feeling and fine tech- nic the charming music of the classics as well as the music of the great Scan dinavian composers. It was a privilege to be entertained at the hospitable homes of the Pastor and the Doctor. Good fellows both. Next day came the visit to the co operative consumers' society. About half of the population of Vorbasse go to church. The Doctor has on his calling list half of the people. But the coopera tive society has them all. Manager Jen- sen took us through the store and into- his house. We sat in his dining room and had coffee and cakes, served by his. wife and daughter, while he answered our questions. The society is forty years old. It has 180 members. There are 120 families, with 500 population in the village. The district has 1300 population. Members- pay 60, 90, or 130 Krone for shares. (The Krone is worth about 30 cents.) The share capital each member has to take depends upon the state of his wealth. If he has money in the bank, if he owns a house, the character of the house—all of these factors determine whether he pays the maximum, the me dium, or the minimum sum for member ship. The society pays from 7 to 11 per cent savings-returns yearly. It has 15,000 Krone capital. The turnover is 250,000 Krone. Overhead 17,000 Krone. That is about 6% per cent overhead cost. In ventory of goods on hand is 25,000 Krone. The manager and two clerks do the business. Credit is not given—ex- 1 46 COOPERATION COOPERATION 47 cept in exceptional cases. The society buys 90 per cent of its goods from the Danish Cooperative Wholesale Society. The Vorbasse Society has invested 24,000 Krone'in the Wholesale. There are two members' meetings yearly. The last two meetings were at tended by 63 and 50 members respec tively. There are five directors. They meet once a month, and usually all are present. "The society's building cost 7,000 Krone in 1901. It is now worth 30,000 Krone. The society buys eggs, hides, and other produce from its members, and sells them to the members and also to private traders. It is not a corporation but a member ship society. Each member is liable for the debts of the society. This policy of non-incorporation is the rule in Den mark. It compels the members to take more interest in the affairs of the society. Each member receives regularly a copy of a cooperative paper. This is the extent of formal education. The Danes are natural cooperators. This cooperative store sells practically everything the people need. Food, clothing, hardware, harness, feed, ma chinery. I bought a walking stick for 2 Krone, that would have cost me $5 in New York. There is one private profit store in the village, doing a business of 30,000 Krone a year. This private trader gives credit. He handles two kinds of goods—good and poor. The cooperative store has only good goods. The private trader resorts to tricks of trade to sell poor quality for good quality. Eventu ally the people find him out. During the time that the present man ager has been in charge of the coopera tive store, three private tradesmen have gone out of business. The cooperative society can close up the private trader any time they wish, but "he does us no harm," they said; "he will in turn go out of business himself; we go on for ever. '' There is a small private bakery. It produces beautiful pastries and cakes. It should be bought out by the coopera tive. It would be a credit to the society. The blacksmith and the shoemaker shops also are private businesses. They might just as well be a part of the co operative society. Iversen, the black smith, who called on me, thinks so too But the Danes do not crowd the matter They establish a cooperative societv to supply a need. If profit business is do ing satisfactorily the thing they want done, they patronize profit business. The cooperative growth in Denmark is a nat ural growth, flowering only as the economic soil supplies the necessary fertilization. There is another consumers' societv in the neighboring village in the same'dis trict. Then there is the Creamery of Vor basse, with 128 members. It takes the farmers' milk and makes 600 pounds of butter a day in the summer and 400 pounds in the winter.. In the best times. it can produce 800 pounds of butter daily. It is a model plant, run by elec tricity which the society itself makes. It uses 4,000,000 pounds of milk yearly. Each member is bound by an agreement not to sell his milk elsewhere for ten years. He must pay a fine for violation of the agreement. The Creamery pays members a dividend yearly, in addition to the market price for milk. We lived at the '' Mission.'' Each day callers came to visit the Americans. All of the people about the village and in the district of Vorbasse, and most of the people in the village are farmers. The store manager is a farmer also. His big barn is connected to his house and to the cooperative store. The bam is close to the house always in Denmark, and both are always clean and sweet and neat. In some countries the barn stinks, but not in Denmark. The lives of the people swing around the products of the soil. There is no great wealth in Den mark and little poverty. The Danish farmers are the most prosperous farm ers in the world—and the average farm is thirteen acres! Vorbasse has had a railroad only since 1917. It is regarded as the most remote and primitive place in Denmark. "He comes from Vorbasse" is a Danish phrase that means he is a "rube" and a "hayseed" from the backwoods. A small pond in the center of the town • surrounded by a fence and constitutes the park. All of Denmark jokes about this pond. It is called "the harbor of Vorbasse." "The free port of Vor basse" is another current Danish joke. When one goes to the city from Vorbasse, le is asked "What vessels of the Danish navy axe now lying in the harbor at Vorbasse?" There are many old songs and current jokes about this primitive place. On the shore of the pond stands a monument, erected in 1896, to the honor of E. M. Dalgas, who planted the heaths with spruce trees and taught the people how to create forests in the unfertile places where grain and hay would not prow. Just outside of the village, by the road side, is another monument marking the place where the battle of Vorbasse was fought. Here the Danish dragoons con quered the Prussian hussars on February 29, 1864. The famous painting of the "Battle of Vorbasse," which for years hung in the National Art Gallery at Co penhagen and is now in the gallery at Viborg, shows the Danes in hot pursuit of the fleeing and beaten Prussians, while the ground is strewn with the dead and dying. An old Danish friend of mine, who lived near here when a boy and talked with the soldiers after the battle, has told me a different story. A small detachment of Danish cavalry were unexpectedly come upon by a few Prus sian horsemen who were out to recon noitre. Both were surprised. Both were scared. Each started to run away from the other. The Danes, fortunately, looked around to see if the Prussians ^yere pursuing them and saw the Prus sians also fleeing in the opposite direc tion. They wheeled back and gave chase with shouts and drawn sabers. One or two Prussians fell from their horses. The rest escaped. That was the glorious 'Schlacht bei Vorbasse." Like most tattles, the glory of it was a mvth. MORE TAX REFUND One year ago the Tax Expert of The ooperative League began proceedings " win back for the Nebraska Farmers imon Exchange, Wholesale for the movement in that state, part of the taxes The inscription on the monument says: "God will determine when we shall conquer again." I do not know what God is doing about it, but the Danes have reduced their army to a police force, and have a bill before their Parliament to abolish their navy entirely. Here is one nation which, it can perhaps truly be said, will never go to war again. The town of Vorbasse is in Jutland, Denmark. It was Worbas prior to 1814. It was once the fief of a feudal lord. The great plague in 1665 is said to have wiped out all of its population except one lone widow and her daughter. The church now in use at Vorbasse dates back to the fifteenth century. It was there before Columbus discovered America. Good solid stone masonry. In the church yard the grave stones bear the old Norse names, such as Niel- sen, Hansen, Pedersen, Jensen, Knud- sen. These were the descendants of Niel, Han, Peder, Jen, and Knud. Vikings once, and robbers of the sea, now tamed and docile farmers. The origin of this village is lost in the antiquity of tens of centuries. The Danes were the tribes who moved north from the Germanic mainland or came inland from the sea. It was from the nearest sea port, Cold- ing, that my own ancestor, Peder Wor- basse, set sail in 1757 with a religious sect called "United Brethren," or "Moravians," to seek a new world and found the towns of Bethlehem, Nazareth, Gradunhutten (n«w Lehighton) on the shores of the Delaware River. To the cooperators of Vorbasse, in Denmark, I was happy to carry the greet ings of the cooperators of America. May the spirit of the ancient Danes and the example of the moderns inspire and help us in our efforts to work together, as they have done, for our common good. paid on 1925 profits. Early in February the Bureau of In ternal Revenue at Washington an nounced that a refund of $1,023.05, with interest for three years, was being granted to the Exchange. 48 COOPERATION COOPERATION 49 Bonding of Employees EEPOET ON INVESTIGATION OF THE ADVISABILITY OF THE LEAGUE ENGAGING IN FIDELITY BONDING FOE COOPERATIVE SOCIETIES SCOPE OF INVESTIGATION.—The ques tion was approached from three angles: (1) organization, (2) operation, and (3) probable volume of business. (1) 0 rganiza tion This showed two aspects: (a) unincor porated, and (b) incorporated. (a) It has been suggested by one dis trict league that the members of The League might be willing mutually to guarantee one another against losses from the infidelity of employees, creat ing for the purpose by annual payments a fund which would more than cover current needs and could be allowed to accumulate to be used eventually as initial capital for an incorporated scheme. This plan involves many risks and presupposes a high degree of mutual confidence among the societies that might participate. (b) A study of incorporated forms of organization showed that the provisions of the New York law are of a sufficiently high standard to meet the legal require ments of any state and that hence organ ization under it would prove the most practical. The co-operative corporation law, under which The League is incor porated, and the insurance law do not permit The League itself to engage in any form of insurance business but do permit it to own an insurance subsidiary. To incorporate such a subsidiary busi ness the League would have to have available $250,000 in cash, $100,000 of which would have to be invested in ultra-safe bonds paying a low interest, to be deposited in the custody of the State Superintendent of Insurance. If, however, the insurance subsidiary of The League were formed to engage in more than one kind of insurance, say bonding and fire, the necessary premium capital for each additional type beyond the first would be but $200,000. In any case in corporation involves a relatively large capital investment. (2) Operation This is divided under four heads- (a) investigation of applications, (b) auditing, (c) investigation of claims, and (d) recovery of losses. ' (a) Those engaged in the business of fidelity bonding do not view themselves as engaged in insurance in the technical meaning of that term. Insurance im plies that the insurer is assuming a risk with a decidedly probable chance of loss whereas bonding implies that there is virtually no chance of loss and that the bonder is so sure of it that he is willing to bind himself to make good the losses should there be any. Keliable authorities state that this basis is necessary if rates are not to become prohibitively high. Inevitably this implies a rigorous ex amination of the person bonded and of the organization protected. Careful scrutiny of the business methods of the employing organization is generally made to ascertain whether or not theft is easy and to guard against claims for losses due to poor management, not infidelity. (b) Bonding companies frequently insist on periodical professional audits for the employing organization to help in determining the justice of claims for losses, often due not to causes against which protection has been purchased but the results of unwise buying or wasteful methods of management. In tables of risks employees of co-operative societies are listed as undesirable though accept able after thorough investigation. (c) While audits help materially, claims for losses must be fully investi gated. This work is often done by the agent of the bonding company. (d) When a bonding company is liable for a loss it always seeks to recover as much of it as possible, usually appre hending the def alcator and attaching MS property or his income, if he has either. The companies have effective channels a v finding thieves and rely to no great Sent on the police. The difficulty of Indin01 the bonding company has a !frono-B deterrent effect on an employee ho Ini^ht otherwise succumb to the Temptation to steal. A bonding com pany no* equipped to recover on the majority of its losses would be operating at a severe disadvantage since it must compete with those so equipped. The work of bonding companies is costly and n only be worth while if the overhead cost is sufficiently shared by a number Of customers in a compact area or if it is carried on by agents with other sources (3) Probable Volume of Business It was assumed that the cost of opera tions would confine the work of a bond ing subsidiary of the League to areas having relatively many societies, so that they might be covered at minimum cost by representatives of the district leagues acting as agents. A questionnaire was sent to all co-operatives of record in Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massa chusetts, Khode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota only. The results are as follows: of income. Total number of questionnaires sent or given out........ 919 Returned undeliverable for various reasons............ 29 Total apparently received by organizations . Total replies . . . ...... Do not bond in any form Societies "Personal Bonds" . . ........... Massachusetts Bonding Co.. ....... Employers' Liability, London. ..... Hartford Accident Indemnity. ..... Aetna Casualty & Surety. ........ American Surety . . .............. American Surety . . ............. .New National Surety . . ............... Fidelity & Casualty, New York .... New Amsterdam Casualty. ........ U. S. Fidelity & Guardian, Baltimore Maryland Casualty . . ............ Fidelity Co., Maryland ............ Fidelity & Deposit Co., Maryland. . Maryland Fidelity & Surety. ...... Bankers Limited Mutual, Milwaukee Lumbermen 's Mutual . . .......... Union Indemnity . . .............. No company named .............. 5 5 2 2 6 4 Era Assn 11 1 1 5 4 3 4 1 1 1 1 13 Persons 9 9 3 4 21 20 . 307 1)6 . 1 1 5 9 4 16 1 1 2 2 25 ........... 890 ........... 85 ........... 18 Protection $26,000 37,500 6,000 8,000 66,000 28,000 180,000 46,000 6,000 2.,000 15,000 17,000 10,000 17,000 2,000 10,000 7,000 3,500 53,000 In premiums $859.50 30.00 60.00 250.00 165.00 500.00 274.26 25.00 15.00 88.50 113.50 50.00 170.00 10.00 32.00 26.26 25.00 310.00 At least 16 companies. 62 427 $519,500 $2,404.00 A question, "Do you at present have your books audited regularly by some agency outside your society?" was not conspicuously placed on the question naire, which may account for its being answered by only 66 societies. The replies were as follows: Societies that have: Yes No Blank Total Commercial Bonds. .. 40 10 12i 63 Personal Bonds..... 1315 No bonds........... 8 9 6 IS Total ........... 44 19 85 These results indicate that the possible volume of business is not large. Ten per cent of the societies replied to the ques tionnaire and of these 75 per cent bond employees, expending for the purpose only slightly more than $2,000. There is a question as to whether it should be assumed that a similar ratio obtains in the other 800 societies that did not reply. If it does some 600 societies spend over $20,000 a year on bonding. But it is more than likely that this is not the case, that rather those that did reply repre sent a large majority of all the societies that bond. The distribution of the replies to the question on auditing is worthy of notice. Those with commer cial bonds audit in the ratio of 4 to 1, whereas the others do not even audit in the ratio of 3 to 1. (To Be Concluded) 50 COOPERATION COOPERATION 51 Cooperation Abroad The first cooperative summer school in Australia opened on January 9th in the club house of the Workers' Educa tion Association at Newport, New South Wales. The school, which was in session for a week, was conducted under the auspices of the New South Wales Co operative Wholesale Society and was directed by Mr. Tom Marshall, who was a student at the Sixth Summer School of the International Cooperative Alli ance, which was held at Manchester, England, in July 1926. The 1927 turnover of the Cooperative Wholesale of Germany (GEG) was $93,- 260,471, of which $25,784,375 worth was produced in its own establishments. On December 31, 1927, the Bank De partment of the Cooperative Union and Wholesale of Switzerland was discon tinued and its business transferred to the new Bank of Cooperatives and Trade Unions, which commenced operations on January 2, 1928. During the months of March and April the Belgian cooperatives will con duct a campaign of intensive publicity, with the object of bringing the coopera tives to the attention of the entire popu lation and of enrolling a large number of new members. The scheme for the establishment of a "cooperative" hotel in London, Eng land, has been abandoned on account of a general lack of interest as shown by the few subscriptions to shares in the venture. "The Cooperative News" comments that the plan was poorly worked out, providing as it did for individuals as well as cooperatives to hold shares. It suggests that such a hotel will not be feasible until some coopera tive institution with adequate finances, presumably the Cooperative Wholesale Society, undertakes it. Two weeks in February were devoted by the cooperatives in Great Britain to their second annual "propaganda cam paign" during which they strove by every possible means to make coopera tion the foremost national topic, by bill boards, advertisements, special publica tions, house-to-house canvasses, elaborate window displays, and numerous meet ings. All cooperators were urged to do their utmost to stimulate the growth of cooperative trade and membership. The three huge societies in London, the Lon don, the Eoyal Arsenal, and the South Suburban Cooperative Societies, each aimed to enroll 25,000 new members. The United Farmers of Alberta, Can ada, held their twentieth annual conven tion in January, and conducted much important business in their usual efficient and orderly manner. Among the steps taken was the appointment of a commit tee of three to meet with a similar com mittee from the Alberta Cooperative League, composed of consumers' socie ties, to discuss ways and means for the powerful U. F. A. to aid the expansion of consumers cooperation in the prov ince. The Cooperative Union of Great Brit ain in conjunction with the Excursion Department of the Cooperative Whole sale Society is arranging summer tours for cooperators to various foreign coun tries at inexpensive rates with all details taken care of. One expedition will sail from Liverpool on June 22d, arriving at Quebec on the 30th. It will make a quick trip through eastern Canada, in cluding stops at Toronto and Niagara Falls, and will reach New York City on July 5th, and sail for home on the 7th. The Eastern States Cooperative League is planning to extend these cooperative visitors a welcome and such hospitality as their brief stay and sight-seeing activities will permit. The German Cooperative Wholesale recently completed its new flour mill- one of the largest in the country, at Magdeburg. It is of the most modern construction and equipment and has a daily capacity of 442,000 pounds of vari ous flours. The Cooperative Society of Berlin and pistrict did a business of $1,347,278 in pecember, 1927, which was a gain of $302,310 over December, 1926. The average purchase per member was $9.42 as against $7.27 a year previous. Dur ing the month 2,438 members were added, making a total of 142,949 in this the largest German cooperative. ____ E. A. N. ANOTHER PIONEER ON COOPERATION "The Capitalist system, with its marvellous technique and wonderful commercial organiza tion, seems an unassailable fortress. And yet, this fortress—seemingly impregnable—has a vulnerable spot through which a breach can easily be made and the fortress forced to capitulation. This weak spot of Capitalism, which will prove its downfall, is the necessity for selling. Profits—the life-blood of capitalism —are only possible through sales. This point is of supreme importance, for if profits can only be realized by sales, it is obvious that in the Capitalist regime the true master of the situation is the buyer—the consumer. The . consumers—potentially masters of the situation —are now, however, the plaything of Capital, because they are not organized. But the moment they realize their strength and unite, the servants will become the masters." "To organize consumers for the control of production and exchange is the real aim and task of the Cooperative Movement. "The revolutionary theory of the Coopera tive Societies of Consumers differs from that of other movements in aiming at the overthrow of Capitalism and in the methods of action. "The Cooperative Movement does not delay the reconstruction of the social system to some future date, nor does it make it dependent upon some great upheaval which might crush Capitalism, but creates this new life to-day, now! "The more members the Movement possesses and the more closely they are attached to the Movement, the more easily and efficiently will its task be performed. The Cooperative Move ment naturally must be open to all, it must be non-party. As citizens, we may belong to opposing parties and quarrel at political meetings, but as cooperators we must lay party dissensions aside and work peacefully hand in hand. Anyone contesting this principle cannot really have the greatness of the Cooperative Movement at heart."—Eomuald Mielczarski, Organizer and President of The Union of Con sumers' Cooperative Societies of Poland, who died in 1926. IS COOPERATION PROLETARIAN? By Professor Chas. Gide. ripHERE are in the Alliance, and moreover in the Cooperative Movement as a whole, I two tendencies which are difficult to reconcile: one which wishes to make Cooperation -1- a "proletarian" organization, ranging itself with trade-unionism and the Socialist Party against the middle classes; and the other which is wrongly styled neutral and which it would suffice to call simply "open," which means that it seeks to defend the interests of all consumers, whether proletarian or middle class. It is not only a difference of procedure, nor even of mentality, which separates these two programmes: it is a difference of doctrine. Proletarian Cooperation only sees the exploitation of the worker and is obsessed by the theories of Karl Marx, who sees in all value only one element—labor; and who only sees in profits a portion of labor for which the worker has not been paid. So-called neutral Cooperation, in accordance with the theory of the new economy, sees in value a creation of needs, and of demand, and in profits that part of value which is levied without reason on the consumer and which it wishes to restore to him. But it is certain that the Marxist theory is not only more attractive to the people but also much easier to understand: the theory of "final utility" is not only distasteful but unintelligible to the worker. We refuse to admit the theory set forth by the Russians that Cooperation "is only for the poor and not for the rich.'' No doubt it is more useful to the form,er than the latter, but we consider that it is for everyone and that if the rich are fleeced as con sumers—and they certainly are!—they also have the right to a place in Consumers' Cooperative Societies. To make Cooperation a monopoly of the proletariat is not only a limitation but a contradiction since Cooperation aims precisely at the suppression of the proletariat. By claiming economic supremacy for the consumer it not only fights against the dictatorship of capital but equally against that of labor. It is absolutely inexact to claim, as the Russians do, that Cooperation has only suc ceeded where it has combined its action with that of the working class. Sweden, Switzer land, and many other countries have very flourishing Cooperative Organizations, although they are entirely outside the class struggle. Cooperative Societies are gaining an increasing number of members from amongst the middle classes.—Taken from the International Cooperative Bulletin. 52 COOPERATION COOPERATION 53 Essay Contest at Cloquet Heimo Sankari, of Cloquet High School, was awarded first prize of $50 in the essay contest sponsored by the Cloquet Cooperative Society for the writing of an essay on "Consumers' Cooperation." Judges of the contest were: E. B. Anderson, superintendent of Cloquet schools; A. L. Winterquist, superintendent of school of the Town of Thomson; Frank Yetka, city attor ney ; Ahti Tuohino and Peter Kokkonen, of the Cloquet Cooperative Society. Other prize winners and their awards were: Dorothy Armstrong, of Cloquet High School, second place, $40; Ellen Suominen, Lincoln High, third prize, $30; Jane Lindholm, Lincoln School, fourth prize, $20; Lauri Kortesoja, Lincoln School, fifth prize, $10. The prize winning essay was entitled "A Phase of United Effort," and is printed below. "A Phase of United Effort" Private enterprise characterizes most phases of modern commercial activity. Everywhere in the world, the private manufacturer and the retail dealer seek for new opportunities to manufacture and market their goods, keeping a sharp eye on the best possibilities for making profit. This system, which was inaugurated by the Industrial Devolution, has constantly de veloped, culminating in so-called modern capitalism. Such a system of making a profit on the actual necessities of life when they are sold to the consumer, has caused members of the labor ing class to consider the possibilities of estab lishing their own retail stores. That is, they desire a store minus the profit-maker. The first consumers' cooperative store was established in England in 1844, under what is known as the Rochdale system. From England the movement spread to America, the first store being organized in Boston in 1845. From then on, the cooperative movement grew steadily, and at present there are more than 2,500 con sumers' cooperative societies in this country. The movement in America gave birth to such organizations as The New England Protective Union, the American Protective Union, the Patrons of Husbandry, the Grange, and the Sovereigns of Industry. These were principally labor unions, with a central store for th • members. The movement then gradual turned toward an economic basis alone wh it stands today. In the states of Minnesn?6 Wisconsin, Michigan, North Dakota, Illi,, •' and New York, approximately seventy-five m" operative stores are linked together through th medium of a Cooperative Central Exehanm? which acts as a wholesale house for the stow' in these states. Most of the stores in this sec tion of the country are affiliated with th Northern States Cooperative League (some of them by way of the Central Exchange). TV American Cooperative League is composed of the consumers' societies in this country, and is in turn affiliated with the International Co operative Alliance. The Eochdale System, on which most of the cooperative societies function, is in itself an indication of true cooperative work. Under this system, each member of the society, regardless of the total sum of the shares he holds, has one vote. Interest is paid on invested capital, but a very low limit is set. Also, one man may possess only a limited number of shares. An educational fund is maintained, for the further ance of the consumers' cause. In business corporations, the votes are divided in proportion to the shares a member holds, each share bringing one vote. Thus we see how much better the cooperative way is in con sumers ' societies. It is impossible for one per son, or even a small clique to gain control, which fact insures the cooperative character of the society. The slight surplus that arises from sales is divided among the members according to their purchases. That is shares can be obtained by way of purchasing merchandise from the store. Since the first consumers' cooperative store was established the movement has been purely of a working class character. Laborers have organized the societies, purchased from the stores and received the economic benefit. They establish the stores because it is they who need them. The progress has been marked. Eveu the private business institutions have 'been affected because of competition. Often prices have been lowered that the private houses might maintain their stand. Economic conditions have proven to be a primary cause for the establishment of con sumers' cooperative societies. Low wages with high prices, forces the laborer to act on his own initiative. It is by this fact that the movement has gained such headway. The advent of consumers' cooperation marks a new era in progress. United effort of the masses is becoming an .important item in the book of chronological history. The people recognize the disadvantages they are at under a system of private institutions, and so con sumers' cooperative societies have come into existence. Furthermore, they are here to stay- News and Comment COMPARATIVE FIGURES FOR A FEW OF Year Farmers Union State Exchange 1926 Omaha, Nebr. (Wholesale) Cooperative Central Exchange Superior, Wis. (Wholesale) 1927 1926 1927 THE LARGER COOPERATIVES Income Net Gain $1,512,024 $34,222 Franklin Cooperative Creamery Association 1926 Minneap olis, Minn. Soo Cooperative Mercantile Association Sault Ste Marie, Mich. Cooperative Trading Company Waukegan, 111. Consumers Cooperative Services New York City Cloquet Cooperative Society Cloquet, Minn. Cooperative Trading Association Brooklyn, N. Y. Cooperative Bakeries of Brownsville Brooklyn, N. Y. New Cooperative Company Dillonvale, Ohio Work People's Trading Company Virginia, Minn. Eock Cooperative Company Eock, Mich. Fort Bragg Cooperative Mercantile Corp. Fort Bragg, Calif. United Cooperative Society Maynard, Mass. United Cooperative Society Fitehburg, Mass. llinot Cooperative Company Minot, N. Dak. Russian Workers Cooperative Stores Brooklyn, N. Y. 1927 1926 1927 1926 1927 1926 1927 1926 1927 1926 1927 1926 1927 1926 1927 1926 1927 1926 1927 1926 1927 1926 1927 1926 1927 1926 1927 1926 1927 1,618,288 1,048,293 1,255,676 3,398,659 3,341,740 590,707 602,847 556,290 579,618 446,915 530,156 477,408 516,278 391,574 428,121 381,843 394,793 542,854 ** 372,199 268,873 316,877 132,421 144,864 127,002 159,454 332,971 338,488 324,203 332,746 159,759 147,567 140,000 149,784 49,096 11,648 18,335 57,711 67,499 38,239 39,886 15,757 24,136 22,347 34,611 20,139 16,980 16,121 11,730 5,794 6,837 36,583 ** 11,216 13,385 11,226 12,142 12,272 6,869 15,568 11,174 12,589 12,695 10,949 8,331 6,421 370 3,300 * Figure not available. 'Miners' Strike during nine months of the year is responsible for this large drop in sales and net gain. 54 COOPERATION COOPERATION 55 FARMERS' COOPERATION IS ATTACKED Manufacturers, processors, packers, canners, ginners, wholesalers, commis sion men, brokers—in fact, all kinds of business men who deal directly with agricultural producers and their crops— assembled in Chicago early last winter to map out a campaign of warfare upon the cooperative movement as organized among the farmers. The men came from all sections of the country, California as well as New York. As a result of the convention, a nation-wide movement of organized middlemen and kindred inter ests is reported to have been formed "to quell cooperative marketing and to get control of farm markets completely back into their own hands." Much of the denunciation was levelled against the various state or the national governments for the tax exemption granted farmers' marketing associations, for the other laws favorable to coopera tion, and for the various bureaus or de partments of marketing and cooperation maintained by these governments. Here are extracts from some of the speeches, showing to what heights of impassioned indignation the meeting was carried. "The farmer is an American citizen and no one objects to his going into business, but they can object to the nursing, wet nursing, and subsidizing which he has received, urging him to go into this system of marketing which we as practical business men know cannot suc ceed. '' Charles Quinn of National Grain Deal ers Association. "If any dangerous proposition has come to this country during my lifetime it is the co operative propaganda. It is a most destructive thing that has come to our government. There are two kinds of politicians—bolsheviks who can fool the public and the ignorant who do not know any better."—Charles Patterson. "The kind of farmers who join cooperatives are weak sisters who allow agitators to make them believe that they are not getting a square deal. The present form of cooperation is de structive to American ideas. One country in Europe was not in the war. Why? Because the patriotic life of Denmark is dead because of socialism and cooperative marketing ideas." —Mr. Bell, Long Beach Produce Exchange. "I was wondering whether the business men would ever wake up to what the radicals were trying to do. We need help to prevent our pockets being picked by the radicals of the United States."—Everetf G. Brown, Chicago Live Stock Exchange. "The farmers are not at all fair when they go into business. I don't like the teachin of cooperation in public schools. It smacks to much of sovietism. I have yet to find a self thinking farmer who will join a cooperative There are many men among cooperatives who are no different than the worst element in the unions. Here in Chicago men are forced to join unions at the point of a pistol. Build ings are bombed, two or three a week NO life is safe. Janitors get from $7,000 to $8,000 a year because they are organized. If 'the growth of cooperation continues, soon the whole country will be as bad. Even now down in Missouri parents are being forced to join co operatives because if they don't the children of members of cooperatives will have nothing to do with their children. Lots of cooperative leaders are as bad as these union gunmen."_ L. B. Kilbourn, of Do Sota Creamery and Produce Co., Minneapolis. "Socialism and cooperative marketing have taken all the pep out of Denmark. The co operative movement is on the go. You have been so busy fighting each other, you haven't woke up yet. The cooperative movement is impractical and uneconomical."—J. J. Farreli, Secretary of the Centralizers in Minnesota. THOSE FARMERS IN NEBRASKA In the middle of January the Ne braska Farmers Union held its annual coiiventon, with 593 delegates in attend ance, the largest meeting in several years. One of the most inspiring reports was that of the Farmers Union State Ex change, Cooperative Wholesale for the farmers. The local stores, local buying- clubs and individual, farmer members of the State Union last year purchased .food, clothing, farm implements and supplies and miscellaneous products from this "Wholesale to the tune of $1,618,288, a jump of more than $100.- 000 over the purchases of the previous year. And the net gain or profit was also much larger than in 1926, being1 $49,096, which left a surplus of $18,000 after 8 per cent had been paid on stock. Biggest gains were made in the machin ery department and the gasoline and oil department. The move for a State Union Building1 in Omaha was endorsed and shoved along considerably. Insurance Company has been making big gains and now has on its lists 25 per cent of the entire membership of the State Union. After a special committee recom mended the organization of an Educa tional Committee of Nine, which should ndertake the organization of a Training School for young members, a resolution llin0' f°r sucn acti°n went through with great enthusiasm. There was some sentiment for cutting loose from the National Farmers Union, but Executive Board was finally given full power to withhold dues or use any other methods necessary to correct abuses or strengthen the national or- o-anization. = There were many guests present from other states, one of them being Bskel Ronn, Manager of Cooperative Central Exchange of Wisconsin. COOPERATIVE CENTRAL EXCHANGE The year 1927 was the biggest ever in the history of the Cooperative Central Exchange. Total sales of $1,255,676 topped the figures of 1926 by more than 3200,000; and net gain of $18,335- beat that of the previous year by nearly :?6,700. The net worth of the organiza tion is just short of $60,000. But sales are not everything. The Training School conducted last autumn was one of the largest and best ever held. The auditing work continues to expand and to strengthen the local societies. The goal set for 1928 is 1% million dollars of sales. NEW COOPERATIVE FEDERATION IN THE NORTHWEST Late in December a conference was called by some of the cooperators of Washington and Oregon, most of them Finnish, to meet at Astoria and form an educational federation. Five or six of the leading Finnish cooperatives of the hvo states were represented, and a per manent organization effected. Plans were made for a two-day out door Festival to be held at Woodland, Washington, on August 4 and 5. A so cial is to be held at Deep River, Oregon, later this winter to stimulate interest among the people of that community. Tentative plans were made for the or ganization of a cooperative fire insurance society and also of a cooperative credit union. Alex Piippo was elected Chairman of fne Central Committee, with A. N. Kos- k«a as Secretary. THAT COOPERATIVE GARAGE ASSOCIATION The Cooperative Auto Services, Inc., of Brooklyn, N. Y., has purchased a tract of land 300 x 100 feet, at the corner of 39th Street and Seventh Avenue, and construction of the garage is to start in the very near future. Accommodations will be provided for 170 cars, there will be a modern gasoline station, an oil, tire and supply store. Rentals for garage space in Greater New York are all the way from $12 to $30 per month, and the cooperative garage expects to undercut even the $12 rate, giving space at $10 per month. Each member invests $200 for which he receives 6 per cent stock. This mem bership entitles him to space for one car. The first year's budget estimates an income of $26,400, three-quarters of which will be from rentals and one- quarter from the sale of gas and sup plies. A manager and two helpers will be employed at a wage expense of $6,000. Other estimated expenses bring the total up to $23,200. This leaves a margin of $2,200 for contingencies or to be rebated to members at the close of the year. MINOT COOPERATIVE COMPANY This organization, formed out in the territory left bare of consumers' coopera tives when the Non Partisan League failed, did a gross business of nearly $150,000 in 1927, showing that the peo ple of that city will patronize a real co operative, whether they themselves have an understanding of the movement or not. A net gain of $6,421 was recorded. THE COOPERATORS AT FORT BRAGG They form one of the two cooperatives in California which have affiliated with the national movement; in fact it is one of the very few which exist in that state laid desolate of consumers cooperatives when the Pacific Cooperative League went bankrupt seven years ago. In 1927 the store did a gross business of about $160,000, with a net gain, of about $15,000 which went to 4 per cent rebates, interest on capital stock, and surplus. 56 COOPERATION COOPERATION 57 AMERICA'S LARGEST CO-OPERATIVE BAKERY Cooperative Bakery of Brownsville and East New York completed the best year in its history on December 31st last. The following figures tell the story. the net gain was $784. Eliseo Giardirf is both President and Manager of th organization, and the members are 6 workers in the textile mills of the Year 1927 . . 1926 . . 1925 . . . 19^4 Net Sales . . . .$394,793.44 . . . . 381,842.70 . ... 256,917.44 285.880.26 Net Gain $6,836.99 5,793.70 '2.203.69 The manager reports that most of the net gain is due to economies in the pur chase of flour through the Buying Com mittee of the Eastern States League. ADVANCEMENT AT WINCHENDON, MASS. The Cooperativa Italiaiia, which oper ates a small general merchandising business at Winchendon Springs, had a successful year in 1927, despite the slack industrial conditions. Total business for the twelve months came to $36,325, and A CORRECTION In COOPERATION for December under "Meeting of Directors of The League" it was reported that "It was unanimous ly voted that political and religious sub jects and all other subjects not directly pertaining to the immediate problems of the cooperative movement be excluded from discussion at congresses of the League, and that the Executive Commit tee be instructed to plan the next Con gress Agenda with this in mind." The motion as actually passed was to the effect that "It is the sense of the Board of Directors that at subsequent Congresses of The League all political and religious subjects and all other sub jects not directly bearing on the immedi ate problems of the Cooperative Move ment be excluded from discussion on the floor of the Congress" etc. District Leagues NORTHERN STATES LEAGUE Efforts are continuing to form a Co operative Wholesale Federation for the Minnesota territory; and the latest so ciety to declare for $100 worth of stock in the joint buying organization is the Farmers Cooperative Produce Associa tion of Moose Lake. During January 39 individual mem bers were enrolled, considerably less than in January of 1927. Meanwhile the auditing department has been busy with three men in the field, working for 10 farmers creameries, 2 cooperative oil associations and 2 stores. The three men are 0. J. Arness, Walter Jacobson, and Laurie Lehtin. EASTERN STATES LEAGUE Four new members have joined the League during the first two months of the year: Headgear Workers Credit Union, with 1123 shareholders, Unity Arbeter Cooperative, a housing associa tion with 500 members, Workers Co operative Union, a bakery society of Lawrence, Mass., and the Prolet Co operative Stores of N. Y. City. The- second also operates a summer camp in Westchester County. The Annual Convention of the League has been set for April 22d, at Stafford Springs, Conn. Plans are now being made also for the Second Training School, to be held somewhere in central New York City. Auditing work in the territory has been more complete this year than ever before. In addition to the regular audits made in Greater New York, Mr. Regli has had annual reports to make for Utica, N. Y., Stafford Springs, Conn., and six Massachusetts places. Several amendments are being pro posed for presentation to the Spring Convention. One would increase the Board of Directors from seven to -nine, and extend the term to two years. An other would change the basis of dues so that the annual contribution would be a percentage of turnover rather than a flat per capita. A third would include «vlvania within the territory of the Sein League. A fourth would make rlistinction between voting representa- E- of distributive, credit and insurance Series. At present all kinds of socie- s?c kave one vote for each 300 members. The proposed amendment would give to ait societies one vote for each 1000 embers, and to insurance societies one "ote f°r >each 350° members- Tnis Pro" vision is more nearly in agreement with those in force under the National League Constitution and the Constitution of the Northern States League. CENTRAL STATES LEAGUE The Second Annual Congress will be held at Bloomington on May 27th and 28th. The long-awaited Printing Plant of the Central States League is finally in stalled and the first issue of the Central States Cooperator to be printed on the new press appeared early in February. The purchase and installation of the new plant was an expensive process, but the future economies possible through its use should more than compensate for the extra work and expense of procuring it. Directors' Page MANAGER'S REPORT To THE ANNUAL MEETING OF THE CLOQUET COOPERATIVE SOCIETY, HELD JANTJAKY SOTH, 1928. When we review the activities of our organi zation during the past year, the increase of its sales, the increase in membership, the general expansion of the business, the educational work carried on durnig the year and everything else that has, in one way or other, helped to further the progress of our society, it is gratifying to note that we have clearly continued to make headway in our business. At the beginning of 1927 we set our seal at half a million dollars' sales in that year. This goal we reached easily, as our sales for the last year amounted to a total of $516,277.99. The sales thus were $38,869.48 larger than the sales in 1926, representing an increase of approximately 9 per cent. The total gross profit for merchandising amounted to $73,726.73, or 14.28 per cent on the sales. The general expenses for the past year amounted to $58,765.76 or 11.38 per cent on the sales. The total net profit, including all net income, amounted in 1927 to $16,980.40, or 3.29 per cent on the sales. The corresponding percent age in the previous year was 4.22 per cent. Already in the beginning of last year, in accordance with the general wishes expressed at the membership meeting, we set as our goal to reduce the selling price of merchandise at our stores as much as possible, and this policy has been followed all through the past year. It is self evident that if merchandise is sold at lower prices, it will reduce the gross profit to be obtained. Our purpose is to continue this policy also during the current year, if possible "'en to a greater degree than in the past year, unless the membership takes a different stand m the matter at this meeting. During the past year we have received mer chandise in carload lots in the following amounts: 103 carloads of feed, 55 carloads of coal, 10 cars of cement, 4 carloads of wall plaster, 2 cars of salt, 1 car of bricks, 1 car of nails and barbed wire, 1 car of roofing, 1 car of farm machinery, 1 car of seeds, or altogether 233 carloads of merchandise. This does not include such merchandise as has been bought in smaller lots. During the current year we have set as OUT goal, sales to reach $550,000. This may appeal- large, but it is not impossible to reach this goal (as long as there are still private store keepers in our locality), if the membership only realizes the full significance of cooperation and gives it as good support as it has given hitherto. Now that we have embarked oil a new year we should make our plans so as to ensure continued success and progress. Why is it advisable to make our plans in advance? In my opinion this is necessary because it is the law of nature that everything must change. Nothing will stay unchanged for ever. If this is so, we should not leave things to blind fate or chance; we should strive to: direct these changes so that they mean real progress. When we call to mind the history of our organization for the last ten years, we find that many changes have taken place in our business dur ing that period. All of these changes have been for the good of our business; they have helped to build up our business and the cooperative movement. Therefore it becomes very impor tant to discuss at these general membership meetings ways and means which will further our progress still more. I would like to submit to the consideration of the membership one reform measure which I consider important, namely, a new method of electing our board of directors. There are at present 1,117 members in our organization, of which about 65 per cent are Finnish and the rest, 35 per cent, people of other nationalities. About 60 per cent of our members reside in the city and 40 per cent live in the country. As the Finnish mmbers have formed the largest single group of the mem bers and have taken the most active part in the COOPERATION COOPERATION affaire of the organization, the -board of directors has been elected hitherto from the Finnish group, or when a person of another nationality has been elected he has failed to take part in the work of the board. In my •opinion we should elect people from other language groups than the Finns even if it proves a little hard in the beginning to get them to take an active part in the work of the board. By this I do not mean to say that the Finns would not be capable of taking proper care of the supervision of the affairs of our society; my object is to bring the different language and nationality groups closer to the business and thus train them to better understand the principles and methods of cooperation, so that they could take more effective part in the cooperative work. This holds true also of the farmers. After the last annual meeting we heard a lot of criticism among our farmer members against our organization because so few of them were elected on our board of directors, in spite of the fact that practically all of the farmer members who attended our last annual meeting were nominated for the board. As the different language and occupa tion groups are nearly equally strong but some of these groups now have practically no representation on the board, I would like to propose that the following method be adopted in electing the new board: the farmers residing in the town of Thompson should be given two seats on the board; those from the Pine Eiver district one; the farmers from Brevator one; the non-Finnish speaking members should be given three or four representatives, and the rest could be elected from among the Frn speaking residents of the city. If this method of election is followed, all groups of members would be adequately represented on the board and this would serve to strengthen our orga • zation immensely in the future. Our business is fast approaching a new turning point—a new juncture. There will np a change in a new direction which at present is still only a little known to us. Our busines has developed or is fast developing from a small business into large business for which it b comes necessary to adopt different business methods than those suitable for a small busi ness. The economic and financial condition of our business has changed greatly during the last few years and at the same time our mem bership is beginning to present new demands Strong chain stores have appeared in OU11 neighborhood challenging us into keen com petition with them. All these factors and many others compel us to look for new and more modern business methods so that we may be sure to emerge from this competition as victors This makes it imperative that the membership continue to give us all possible good will and support, that the board of directors continue to consider all the affairs of business witli understanding and business acumen and that they be able to take the correct atttitude toward problems that our organization will inevitably have to face in the future. Fraternally submitted, P. KOKKONEN, Manager. Correspondence File WHY NOT TRY COOPERATIVE EDUCATION? Editor COOPERATION: At a shareholders meeting held last April a majority of the shareholders were bound and determined to divide up the item marked "Sur plus," which is uncollected dividends of non- shareholders. They were not going to take the money out of the store but figured on get ting an extra share of stock I am up against it to make our store a real cooperative. We have about eight real coop- erators out of a membership of sixty, but we will carry on. June 14, 1927. C. S., Secretary, M. Cooperative Co. Editor COOPERATION: We want to know if a stock dividend issued to the shareholders would be a violation of the State Law. We are desirous of getting a cooperative oil station started here, but are held back by the greedy attitude of the bulk of our shareholders. They will not let us sell stock nor expand, and are trying to force us into declaring a stock dividend. I feel sure we can win out, if we can find out definitely where we stand in regard to the State laws governing cooperative organizations. January 26, 1928. C. S., Secretary, M. Cooperative Co. Editor COOPERATION: We are going to have a board meeting in the near future and a special meeting of the shareholders, and I am requesting additional information. Two years ago the shareholders instructed tlie board of directors to take the stock off the market. The question arises, were they within the law in doing this ? Has any court decision been made ruling that a member's share of stock is considered only as a trading certificate? If a majority of the shareholders decide to close the store (in order to split the profits) what recourse have the minority? There is no question that a determined effort will be made to issue a stock dividend, and if they fail, they will try to block any effort to place the stock on the market again. February 4, 1928. C. S., Secretary, M. Cooperative Co. COOPERATIVE DEMOCRACY Second Edition completely revised JAMES PETER WARBASSE president of The Cooperative League of the United States of America Member of the Central Committee of the International Cooperative Alliance \ Discussion of the Consumers' Cooperative M ment jn its Relation to the Political State to the Profit System, to Labor, to Agriculture and to the Arts and Sciences " We hope Dr. Warbasse's book will find readers throughout the world " — G. J. D. C. Goedhardt, ex-President International Coop erative Alliance MACMILLAN & CO., New York, Publishers Order from The Cooperative League, 167 West 12th St., New York, U. S. A. Price, $1.50. The Cooperative Union, Holyoake House, Han over St., Manchester, England. Price 6 sh. German Edition : Verlagsgesellschaft deutscher Konsumvereine, Strohhause 38, Hamburg, Germany. Price, 6 marks. IS YOUR FURNITURE INSURED IN A COOPERATIVE COMPANY? This Company is 55 years old It has 50,000 members Its rates are the lowest Is there a branch in your town? If not, why not? WORKMEN'S FURNITURE FIRE INSURANCE SOCIETY Care of Cooperative League, 167 W. 12 St. NEW YORK CITY1 STUDY COOPERATION AT HOME Correspondence Courses prepared and con ducted by experienced cooperators are now ready 1. Elementary English 2. Commercial Arithmetic 3. Bookkeeping for Cooperators 4. Advanced Course in Bookkeeping 5. Principles and Theory of Cooperation For full particulars write THEt COOPERATIVE LEAGUE 167 West lath Street New York City The Canadian Cooperator Brantford, Ontario, Canada The organ of the Canadian Coopera tive Movement, owned by and con ducted under the auspices of The Cooperative Union of Canada. Published monthly 75c per annum "The Cooperative Pyramid Builder" Official Organ of Cooperative Central Exchange is a snappy, live cooperative magazine. Get in line! Subscribe NOW Subscription price 60c a year. 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(Yiddish) . ., .02 " When the Whistle Blew " (Story, by Bruce Calvert) ............... .06 Reading List on Cooperation....... ...10 -International Directory of Coopera tive Organizations .............. ^ .60 Social Aspects. off Farmers' Coopera-. * tive • Marketing ' '(-By Benson Y: Landis). ..-.-.. ., .... i.......... .25 Co-op Homes for Eurbpe's Homeless. .10 Real First Aid for the Farmers..... .05 A Better World to Live- In........ .05 How a Consumers' Cooperative Dif fers from Ordinary Business./. .'.•." .-'^02> The "Moral Equivalent " of Jazz'. . ." ''.02 Buttons < League emblem), }4 inch diameter .................... Sign or Transparency of League Era- blem. Green and .gold, 8 in. diam. .25 Stock certificates, engraved, with League Emblem. Bound in- books- of 100, 200. or .250. To 'Mothers ......... .T....: .'.'. ..." -.02 $6.00 6.00 6.00 4.00 4.00 4.00 2.SO 1.75 1.25 . 2.00- 15.00 1.00 ONE-PAGE LEAFLETS (One Cent each;- SO Cents per 100; $2.50 per 500; $4.00 per 1,000;) (1) Principles and Aims of The Cooperative League; (20) Why Loyalty Is Necessary; (21) Cost and. Crime, of Credit; (25) Resolutions Adopted by-A. F.'of L.;' (26) Factory Workers Cooperate 1; (28) Do You Know About Cooperation in Europe ?; (40) Have You a Committee on Education and Recreation ?; (45) Schools tores; (47) A Man's Right to a Tob- (4K) T- >perators; (49) A Way Out; (61) Coone,,,-'1'8 Disarmament. 'anon and Stor to Coope.n^,^, \_-<'t Brings Disarmament. MONTHLY PUBLICATIONS COOPERATION.—(In bundle lots, $7.50 per hi dred). Subscription, per year... .."-. .". .'•- V- '.'••• im Report of the ^American Cooperative. Congresses, 19'20,-1922,'1924, 1926, each. r. .......... Lw Northern' States Year Book; 1927.. Paper: i v.. The People's 'Year"Book,' l"928. 'Cloth, $1.00 paper bound '......................•,••,••• (Ten cents postage should be added for all books.) 1.00 1.50 .50 5.00 1.50 1.00 J.50 .30 .60 A magazine to spread the knowledge of the Cooperative Movement, whereby the people, in voluntary association, produce and distribute for their own USe the things they need. Published Monthly by THE COOPERATIVE LEAGUE OF THE U. S. A. 167 West 12th Street, New York City CEDRIC LONG, Editor Entered as Second Class matter, December 19, 1917, at the Post Office at New York N Y. under the Act of March 3, 1879. Price $1.00 a year. VOL. XIV, No. 4 APRIL, 1928 10 CENTS VIRGINIA WOEK PEOPLE'S TRADING COMPANY headquarters store. The one-story wming belongs to the Association, the two-story building is rented but may le purchased vetore many months home elapsed. There are larger and more imposmg business blovlcs than ™seim the town, l>ut none of them house a more active business institution nor one that is growing more rapidly. Them are places m the United States where the cooperative method I avrng business is going ahead more rapidly than the capitalist method. 62 COOPERATION COOPERATION 63 Virginia Work People's Trading Company Virginia is a town of 15,000 people'in the iron mining country of Minnesota There are mining towns in other parts of the United States, but none like those in the Northeastern part of this particular State. In the coal towns of Penn sylvania, Ohio, Illinois or Colorado we find no such prosperous looking com munities. The High School in Virginia cost two million dollars and was paid for almost entirely out of the taxes!levied against the mining corporations Other municipal buildings, roads, parks are laid out in the same lavish fashion This is a very different tale from the one told by the residents of coal,"steel or oil towns of Western Pennsylvania with their hovel homes, their rough shacks masquerading as schoolhouses, their mud holes which bear the names of streets Why do the children of Pennsylvania go half naked (both-physically and mentally) while those of Virginia; Bibbing and neighboring communities enjoy such luxuries ? ' Virginia is again one of the few cities of the country which boast municipal water supply, municipal electric light and power, municipal gas supply, munici pal steam heat. Electric current at slightly over 4 cents per k.w. hour is about as cKeap as anywhere in the United States. Surplus remaining from the opera tion of the steam heating plant at the end of the year, is rebated to the patrons •in proportion to patronage (strictly cooperative in every respect except that ijf is controlled by the city officials rather than by a meeting of the patron rftembers of a steam heating association). A year ago this town had three business organizations that boasted of being cooperative: one operated by a group of 39 Slovenians, one known as the Italian Work People's Trading Association, and finally the Virginia Work People's Trading Company, the hero of this story. Late in 1927 the first and last were consolidated. It was way back in 1907 that some of the miners organized a cooperative association and bought out a private business. Two years later they incor porated. But it was not until 1915 that the business really began to show signs of success and to move forward. From that date the progress has been steady: progress in business, in building up the membership, in extending the number of customers, in associating with the cooperative movement at large. Today there are slightly less than one thousand shareholders, most of them miners, but with about 70 farmers included in the roster. Originally a Finnish organization, and still with most of the active workers Finnish or Scandinavian, there are now numbered Swedish, Slovenian, Italian, Polish, Austrian and American men and women among the shareholders. The greatest progress was made in 1927, when meat departments were opened in both the Main Store and in the branch on the other side of the city, and consolidation with the Slovenian group was effected, permitting the doubling of the capacity of the Main Store (half of the building had been rented to the Slovenians). The consolidation brought in new business to about $3,000 per month, and the new meat depart ments made a further large increase in sales. Eighteen employees are now required to handle the work of the company. The cooperators in some of the largest cities in the country think of a coopera tive store in terms of a grocery and meat business alone. At Virginia the operative is almost a complete department store, handling, in addition to the C ffular lines of foodstuffs (for both humans and the farm flocks and herds), Nothing, hats and shoes, kitchen utensils, hardware and similar heavy merchan dise blankets and other drygoods, dishes and miscellaneous kitchen or table ware trunks, bags and assorted lines of leather goods, automobile tires and parts, farm'machinery. The total inventories average nearly $40,000. Investment in two buildings, two warehouses, and lots come to more than $21,000. The customary Rochdale business principles are followed. Six per cent interest is paid stockholders. Recently a rebate of 3% per cent has been returned to purchasers on their patronage; but those who paid cash actually saved 5% per cent for a discount of 2 per cent is given on cash purchases. In 1927 sales increased by $48,000 over those of the previous year—chiefly because of the two new butcher shops and the consolidation with the Slovenian cooperative. This is a jump of 18 per cent, and means a rapid readjustment within the business organization. For instance, a typical Saturday's business in the Main Store is that for November 12th, when more than $2,250 was taken in. One other Saturday, not quite so typical, but significant, was the one on which the new wing of the main building was first opened to the public after consolidation of the two cooperatives. A demonstration and sale of Red Star Coffee was held on that occasion, and a total of 2,059 pounds was disposed of— more than one ton. There are many other interesting items that might be related if space allowed. For instance, a delivery service is maintained to the mining town Eveleth, a community dominated by the mining companies and center of activities for a company store. The corporation is reported as not only using many questionable methods of attack upon the cooperative, but as actually discriminating against miners who patronize the Virginia Work People's Trading Company. The following give a rough clue to the increase in business which has taken place in one year: 1926 1927 Net sales for year.................... $268,873 $316,877 Gross gain from sales................. 40,087 14.9% 45,828 14.5% Expenses. .......................... 28,703 10.9% 35,303 10.7% Net gain from operations and other sources. .......................... 13,385 4.9% 11,226 3.5% Rebated to patrons................... ...... ...... Average inventories .................. 39,840 38,992 Merchandise turnover during year..... 5.74 times 6.90 times Current assets ....................... $60,826 Current liabilities ................... 8,445 Capital paid in by members............ 27,640 Surplus (before rebates are paid)...... 21,489 $75,402 15,460 36,180 22,799 Directors and Manager hope for an increase of $50,000 in sales for 1928. If last year's increase is any indication of what can be done, their hopes should be easily realized. The Virginia Work People's Trading Company has for the past few years been a large purchaser from the Cooperative Central Exchange, so that today it automatically owns several shares of stock in that wholesale, the result of accumulated patronage rebates. Thus the company is a member of the Northern States League and the Cooperative League of the IT. S. A. Matt Pohlman is the President, Herman Kortesoja the Secretary, and Aro Ruuska the Manager and Treasurer. The latter has been manager since 1920. 64 COOPERATION COOPERATION 65 The Point of View By J. P. WAEBASSE THE UNORGANIZED PUBLIC BLUNDERING ON TO WAR "Give the People their own War Power," is the title of a book by my friend, Dr. Thomas Hall Shastid, who sets forth a way to have world peace. He shows that in no country have the people any vote, or legal say about wa|r. He asks the question: "What would happen if, in the four or five dominant nations, the war-making power were re moved from the hands of just a few poli ticians and placed in the hands of the people generally?" Dr. Shastid shows that wars are made by a few people, who do not go to war, and that the mass of people who have to do the suffering in the end, do not want war. He contends that we would have world peace, if the people were given the power to decide by vote in all cases for or against war. But this voting-power is precisely what the people will not be given—un less the politicians could depend upon them "to vote right." The five impor tant war-making governments are in the control of small minority groups of poli ticians who act as the agents of those who own the property and control the business and credit of the country. They give the people nothing. Their job is to take from the citizens. Among other things, they take the liberties of the people. There is not the faintest sign in these countries that the people will be given any control over any thing—and least of all over the privi lege of making war. It is an axiom, proved by a thousand events of history, that politicians in power do not volun tarily give up the power that is in their hands. It is relinquished only when it is taken from them. In the great war-making countries, the politicians tell the people that they have the power to do what they wish. And the people believe it. But it is not true. They cannot act. They are quite helpless. Let any important question come up which is vital to the public: th politicians can divide the people 'int hostile camps, fighting one another° when their interests in reality are all common and the same. What the people get they will have to take. In order to take things they have to organize effectively to act together And they are not so organized. Trading and commercial forces are or ganized. The politicians are organized But the people, the plain mass of con sumers of things and sufferers of conse quences, are not organized. This can easily be tested. Go to any of the capital cities—to Washington, if you please—with some measure that is simply in the interest of all of the people, but of no class or group, or go with some measure that is to protect the people from some violation of their lib erties : the measure will be pigeon-holed, thrown on the scrap heap, or laughed out of town—but it will not be enacted. The measures that are enacted into law are in the interest of some organized group with organized economic power, or with dictatorial power behind it. The people have neither of these. Without power, they are flatteringly told that they have all power. The people elected Mr. Wilson presi dent because " he kept us out of war," and they hoped that he would continue to do so. The Morgan banks bought the allied war bonds. Mr. Wilson decided to take us into war. George Creel was , appointed Liar Extraordinary to the U. S.; and proceeded to feed the people "dope" to make them want war. The British Government spent £30,000,000 among the newspapers of the U. S. to get us into the war. And presently the people were howling for German blood. If the American bankers had invested the people's money in German bonds ann if Germany had spent $150,000,000 on propaganda in the U. S., George Creel s bureau would have been telling us about the French and English atrocities and tlie danger of French and English con quest of our happy firesides; and this would have set the people howling their heads off for French and English blood. The bankers and war-making profit- eers told the Government which side to fioht for and the Government saw to it that the people did it. There are movements to organize the people outside of the political field. The labor movement would organize all workers, and the syndicalist side of thej labor movement would compel all capi talists to become workers and thus con-j vert the world into a great trade union. But these organizations are all divided, iii their opinions and methods, 1 The church would bring all people under one banner. But it also is divided into hostile factions, and fails as a means of uniting the masses. The boards of trade and commercial organizations are addressed to a minor ity class. There is only one movement outside of the political field that is organizing the people upon a common ground. That is the cooperative movement. It organizes the consumers; and they are everybody. As the people become more and more united into consumers' cooperative so cieties, they more and more take into their own hands the control of their economic life, and to just that degree weaken the political control. In such countries as Denmark, Swit zerland, Finland, and Sweden, where nearly a half of the people are organized into cooperative consumers' societies, the politicians are losing their control. The mass of people, with wants and in terests of their own to be considered, are organized sufficiently to have a large voice in determining their fate. 1 The 100,000' consumers' cooperative societies, in thirty-six countries, with 50,000,000 members, united into the In ternational Cooperative Alliance, pos sess the organization which offers hope for world peace. Here are people or ganized to distribute to themselves, and finally to manufacture for themselves, the things they need. These societies are not static. They are growing in vol ume of business and in membership. During the last fifteen years the mem bership of distributive societies has in creased three fold in Germany, Sweden and Finland. In Switzerland, Denmark and England, and several other coun tries over one-third of the population are supplied with the necessities of life by their cooperative consumers societies, In many countries these societies are fed erated to form wholesale societies which in some instances are the largest dis tributive businesses in the country. In Great Britain, for example, the turnover of the English and Scotch Wholesale amounts to $500,000,000 a year. The turnover of one of the two German Cooperative Wholesales has increased from $25,000,000 in 1911 to $65,000,000 in 1926. The turnover of the consumers' societies in Great Britain is over a billion dollars a year. Their paid up capital is' over $100,000,000. The English Whole sale is the largest manufacturer, trader and landowner in the British Empire. The International Cooperative Whole sale Society, which is a federation of the national wholesales, was formed in 1924. The international cooperative wholesale business already amounts to $250,000,000 a year. Fourteen per cent of the butter that comes into England is brought in through this cooperative channel. The British societies use 500,000 tons of flour a year, most of which comes in through the Wholesale Society. This large and growing international business is carried on not in the interest of making profits. These cooperators are not going out into the markets of the world seeking trade to exploit. The jealousies and hostilities that demand tariffs, secret treaties, and navies do not exist in this cooperative business. Per haps the hope of world peace must be sought in this economic field. It is doubtful if the politicians have the power to give the people peace. The International Cooperative Alli ance, with its committees and congresses, is a true league of nations in the eco nomic field. It is wholly non-political. While a political Disarmament Confer ence composed largely of men whose for tunes depend upon the perpetuation of war languishes at Geneva, .the Interna tional Cooperative Alliance goes steadily forward with activities that make for international friendship and peace. But as. yet in the great war-making 66 COOPERATION COOPERATION 67 countries, the cooperative societies are far from being a dominant influence. The war-makers shift their cannon, make, their powder, rattle their swords, and move their politicians about on the chess board of the world as pawns and kings; —while the people are more interested in the movie show, the price of beer and a package of cigarettes. And each coun try goes blundering on toward war. The citizens may get the war-making and peace-declaring power when they learn that, as a first step, the actual con trol of government by all of the people is a fatuous dream. It is perhaps only through the non-political organization of their economic power that they may sub ject governments to their will, and then hope for peace. But so long as the people are at the mercy of forces that want war, the people may be counted upon to be for war. The Development and Hopes of the Interna tional Cooperative Alliance By VAINO TANNER President of the I. C. A. and Ex-Premier of the Finnish Republic. Authorized and abbreviated translation by K. E. Primus-Nyman, Editor, Konsumenfbladet, Helsingfors, Jan. 16, 1928. Every cooperator knows that the co operative organizations of the world are united in a common central organization, the International Cooperative Alliance; but the knowledge of its activities and aims is still comparatively limited. The Alliance deserves all our interest and support. The history of the origin of this or ganization is very instructive, showing as it does the difficulties in achieving something on an international basis. It experienced suspicions, lack of interest in the affairs of other countries, and na tional complacency. Also the confusion of tongues has been calculated to ham per the mutual work. It has generally been a comparatively easy task to the Cooperative Movement to gain a footing on a national basis, and even to show quick results. But as soon as work on a larger international scale began, the difficulties at once became unexpectedly great. Many difficulties confronted the founders of the Alliance, and the work ers' copartnership ideas that character ized the first decade of the activities of the organization. The Alliance after the Hamburg Congress, of 1910, entered upon clear sailing. It had then got a definite social program, having gained a clear conception as to the importance of Cooperation among the other social movements. It is from this time that the international period actually began. But what, indeed, is the I. C. A. doing, and upon what is it intent? Its activi ties may be compared to those of a na tional cooperative union, though on an international basis. It is purely an ideal organization, acting as a uniting link between the various central national societies, collecting information about the Cooperative Movement in each coun try, and placing this information at the disposal of all the other countries. The work of the Alliance is centralized about the London office, the executive, and the various committees. Mention should be made of the Bulletin, published in three languages, and of the International Con- i gresses, held every third year. T The work of the I. C. A. may be com- i pared with that carried out in many other spheres of international activity. For instance, the Socialist International and the International Federation of Trade Unions, each act as a similar link in their own spheres. Along with these, the I. C. A. serves as a very necessary complement when there is the question of safeguarding the interests of the poorer classes. We have for some time been aware of the fact that the activity of the I. C. A. cannot be kept within the narrow bounds 'nside which it has so far been forced to act. Indeed, the Cooperative Move ment does not only mean an idealistic activity, but it primarily strives to attain useful results for its members in prac tical fields. Just as the local distributive societies in their own place, and the na tional cooperative wholesale societies, are gaining advantages to their members in the distribution of goods, so, too, since many years, a similar work has been planned on an international scale. In this way we would get interna tional organizations as a complement to the national cooperative wholesale societies, insurance societies, and banks. Only when all this has been achieved, only then can the cooperative structure be regarded as quite ready. Its princi pal power would then be found in the work that is being carried out in each country, but the tower of this structure would be the powerful international eco nomic organizations. These projects are just now7 being dealt with by the various committees of the I. C. A. The work has already been carried on for years. This task has proved itself to be rather difficult. It is not an easy thing to federate the dif ferent interests and efforts of the various countries, and up to now we have not discovered the suitable method by which these ambitious projects could be real ized in practical life. But difficulties exist to be overcome. Endeavors to look after international interests have nowadays become general in every sphere of life. There is scarce ly a single branch of activity where such could not be found. Also the natural competitors of cooperative business, the capitalist trusts and rings, are every where working on an international scale. From their strongholds they plan meas ures in favor of their own interests, and common programs are elaborated for the purpose. What is then more natural than that the cooperative world should also try to fortify its own position in the same way, and to acquire all the means which international activity can achieve. Were it' not to do this, then it would soon discover that it had got into a weaker position during the fight. The I. C. A. is already an impor tant factor as a guardian of the inter ests of the cooperators of the whole world. One can imagine what a gap there-would be, were the Alliance, for some reason or other, forced to discon tinue its existence. Then the need of such an organization would be clear to all countries. But its importance will, of course, be multiplied proportionately as new fields are cultivated for the ex pansion of the practical, cooperative business activities on an international basis. It is fortunate that the cooperative organizations of the various countries can meet one another through the Alli ance. Particularly the cooperators of the small countries will always benefit more by this than will those of the bigger countries, as it is so much easier for the latter to defend their own interests. Bonding of Employees REPOET ON INVESTIGATION OF THE ADVISABILITY OF THE LEAGUE ENGAGING IN FIDELITY BONDING FOE COOPERATIVE SOCIETIES {Continued from March Number.) CONCLUSIONS.—These are treated as (1) favorable, (2) unfavorable, and (3) recommendations. (1) Favorable were to undertake the bonding of employees of cooperative societies. (a) These societies would be kept in intimate touch with one another and with the League or its subdivisions. The There might be many advantages for spirit of solidarity would be fostered the societies as well as for the League more than by almost any other means, as a whole if the League or a subsidiary The business would require frequent 68 COOPERATION COOPERATION 69 visits to all societies by representatives of the League or district leagues. (b) The work of the Accounting Bureau would be greatly increased, more than putting it on a self-supporting basis, perhaps necessitating the employ ment of an auditor in the territory of each of the three district leagues, who could also investigate applications and claims. (c) The Accounting Bureau would be in a position to furnish the staff with accurate statistics on League members to an extent heretofore impossible. (d) The service of the bonding sub sidiary might in itself be an attraction to new societies to join the League. (e) The societies would practically be compelled to adopt the best business methods and controls. (f) They would be highly safeguarded from employing undesirable persons. (g) Sufficient information on people working in co-operatives would become available for the League to establish an employment service. (2) Unfavorable (a) The income would be very small in comparison to the high operative expenses and capital involved. (b) For a Co-operative League Bond ing Company to attempt to build up its own business by educating the societies to appreciate, as good business pro cedure, the value of bonds, would be a costly and highly uncertain undertaking. (c) There is . doubt whether the League's bonding subsidiary would be able to secure a major part of the busi ness even if all societies were to bond some of their employees. (d) The business would have to be large to pay. The minimum capital re quired by law is $250,000, and the small operations would not justify such a large capitalization. This money safely in vested would yield about 4 per cent, or $10,000 a year, but it would undoubt edly cost the League 6 per cent or $15,000 a year to procure this capital. Thus operating income would have to furnish $5,000 a year to pay interest on the capital. (e) Raising the necessary capital would be very difficult. The only plan that presents itself is for the League to issue $250,000 worth of its own bonds at 6 per cent and to invest the money, if jt could sell the bonds, in the stock of the bonding company, which would have to pay the League $15,000 a year in divi dends on this stock so that the League could pay the interest on the bonds. (f) The economic value to each co operative society of the League oper ating its own bonding company would be • nil for a very long time, that is until there are many more co-operatives in this country than there are to-day. (8) Recommendations (a) For the present the League should '.abandon, as impractical if not impos- .sible, any plan to enter the bonding business. \ (b) In such district leagues where jthere is any sentiment for it the societies Jmight do what they can to establish mutual bonding funds on an informal basis, keeping their overhead as low as possible and taking advantage of their close acquaintance with one another to keep down the losses, and thus build up funds that might later help to set up a regular bonding business in the League. This has already been proposed to the Eastern States Co-operative League and has been rejected by it. But better cir cumstances may prevail in the other districts. (c) If the League were to organize a fire insurance business first and put that upon a sound paying basis it might become possible eventually to establish a bonding business in connection and thus share some of the expenses with it. Respectfully submitted, EDWARD A. NOEMAN, Research Secretary. A IETTER OF APPRECIATION TO— Workingmen's Cooperative Co., Cleveland, Ohio. Dear Fellow Cooperators: On behalf of the striking miners at Dilkm- vale, Ohio, we wish to express our thanks for your clieck amounting to $250, which relief was so pleasing and so unexpected. Tours for Cooperation, THE NEW COOPERATIVE COMPANY, J. BLAHA, Manager. Dillonvale, Ohio. Cooperation Abroad CONSITMERS COOPERATIVES IN RUSSIA The Economic Review of the Soviet • carries in its March issue an rticle under the title given above, ex tracts from which follow: The consumers' cooperatives are the leading . ,1 merchants in the Soviet Union to-day. • 1924 their membership has more than A fhled and in 1926-27 with 71,000 stores, a mhership of over 15 million and sales "Hunting to over ten billion rubles they rn°dled 25 per cent of the total trade of the wintry Cooperatives of all types transacted almost 36 per cent of the entire volume of 'f"ihe revolution found the Russian consumers' cooperatives in a well organized state. While in 1913 their membership was only 1,400,000, during the war years it grew very rapidly and by 1917 the cooperatives had eleven and one- knlf million members and 35,000 stores doing a yearly business of 1,300,000,000 rubles. The Soviet government adopted from the very be ginning a policy of encouraging cooperatives in order to utilize all that was serviceable aud useful in this enormous machinery of distribution. The famous decree concerning cooperation, issued on April 12, 1918, outlined the modus vitendi between the Soviet government and the cooperatives. According to this decree the co operatives were to serve not only their own members but the rest of the population as well. The decree established a lower membership fee for the poorer classes and excluded owners of private enterprises from holding leading posi tions in the Cooperatives. In the next year the scarcity of commodities and the difficulties in providing the population with prime necessities of life made necessary a radical change of policy concerning coopera tives. By a decree of March 20, 1919, the cooperatives were declared to be the general organs of distribution, and were transformed into a government organization under the direct supervision of the People's Commissariat for Provisioning. This extraordinary measure was necessary in order to concentrate the distribu tion of the meagre supplies of goods in the hands of one central organ. With the introduction of the New Economic Policy, in 1921, allowing for free trade and private markets, there began a new period in the development of consumers' cooperation al though the adjustment to the changed condi tions was rather slow. The cooperatives were relieved from supervision by the People's Com missariat for Provisioning except in special cases, and the formation of independent co-operative associations was permitted. . . . The reorganization of the consumers' co operatives on a sound basis began only in 1924 with the re-introduction of voluntary member ship on a share-holding basis. The following table shows the growth in the number of cooperators during the years 1924-27: MEMBERSHIP OF CONSUMERS' COOPERATIVES Oct. 1,1»24 Oct. 1,1927 Rural Societies........ 3,529,000 9,260,000 Urban Societies........ 3,564,000 5,813,000 . : ......... 7,093,000 15,073,000 Kate of growth. 100 212 '. . . The 28,000 societies are organized into 259 cooperative unions of which 220 are regional or local unions, 28 unions of minor nationalities and 11 unions of autonomous Republics or territories. . . . The urban societies, although having a mem bership only of about 38 per cent of the total number of members nevertheless handle more than half the business. In the first half of 1926-27, the urban societies had a turnover 50 per cent in excess of the rural cooperatives. Centrosoyus handles also the export and im port trade of the consumers' cooperatives which is conducted through its foreign offices. Last year Centrosoyus-America, representatives of the Centrosoyus in the United States, with offices in New York, imported $3,900,000 worth of merchandise into the United States from the Soviet Union. The principal imports were furs $3,211,000, fiax and tow $442,000, caviar $124,000 and fish $81,000. Exports to the Soviet Union from this country made by Cen trosoyus last year amounted to $418,000, con sisting chiefly of agricultural implements, binder twine, leather, office equipment, etc. The cooperatives are also constantly aiming to reduce overhead expense through better mer chandising methods and by eliminating unneces sary handling. The improvement in this respect •can be seen from the following table: OVERHEAD EXPENSE (Per Cent of Turnover) 1923-24 1924-25 1925-26 Rural societies... 15.3 12.4 2.1 Urban societies... 14.0 11.7 5.5 ITEMS The largest cooperative in Australia is the Eudunda Farmers' Cooperative So ciety. It is growing rapidly. In the lat ter six months of 1927 it increased its membership by 957 to a total of 16,627, which amounts to one person in every thirty, representing one family in every six, in the State of South Australia. It now maintains 35 branches and had a trade of $3,680,000 last year. A remark- 70 COOPERATION COOPERATION 71 able feature of this cooperative is that a preponderant majority of its members are farmers. I According to the International Co<\ operative Bulletin the National Federa tion of Consumers' Cooperatives of Portugal consists of 180 societies with a total membership of 85,572 and an ag gregate annual trade of about $5,200,000., Only a small part of the wholesale pur-' chasing was done from the Federation.1 The Federation has information on thei existence of about 200' more cooperatives! in the country. The Bulletin expresses' surprise that the Portuguese movement is that large. Very little information has ever come from the Portuguese coopera tives and it was surmised that almost none existed. The 1927 year-book of the National Federation of Consumers' Cooperatives of France contains figures as of the end of 1926, which show that the French movement has reached a size of impor tance and that it is developing at a rapid speed. Out of 3,304 cooperatives in France 1,356 are members of the Federa tion but these are the larger ones, having 1,377,228 members out of a total of 2,202,779 and a trade of $94,937,575 out of $146,788,693. The members of the Federation show a greater proportionate growth than do the non-members. In 1926 the French Cooperative Wholesale had a trade of over $22,800,000 and the bank of over $9,000,000. The Scottish Cooperative Wholesale Society has 276 local cooperative societies in membership with 690,000 members and a total trade of nearly $300,000,000 in 1926. The Wholesale was formed in 1868 and in 1926 had a capital of $45,- 000,000 and a turnover of $85,000,000, of which its own works produced $28,- 750,000 worth. This year the 60th birth day is being celebrated. as many as were organized in 1927 A number of societies have joined the new Manitoba Cooperative Wholesale, which held its first annual meeting at Brando on February 15. Apparently Manitoba is the scene of the fastest growing paj-t of the consumers' cooperative movement in America. The Scoop Shovel, the excellent co operative publication of Winnipeg, Man itoba, Canada, contains the astonishing news that 23 new consumers' coopera tives were incorporated in Manitoba in last January, being more than a third The 1927 turnover of the Cooperative Wholesale and Union of Sweden (K p \ was $29,940,000, representing an' in crease of $4,000,000 over the previous year. This is especially remarkable as the average of wholesale prices was lower than in 1926, the authoritative computation of price-indices being' 144 for 1926 and 141 for 1927. It is interest ing to realize that the Wholesale had been in business twelve years before it attained a trade of $4,000,000 a year About $13,750,000' of the trade last year was in flour, margarine, shoes and boots, rubber goods, and other commodities manufactured in factories owned by the Wholesale. During the severe floods in England in the early part of the winter the town of Heybridge in Essex was flooded to a . depth of four feet or more in a few 1 moments in the middle of one night. The inhabitants all had to flee to upper floors of their houses, mostly without clothing or footwear, where they stood in the darkness cold, wet, and helpless. The secretary of the Maldon and Hey- i bridge Cooperative Society, who lived outside the flooded district, arose im mediately and hurried in one of the • society's trucks with the manager fol lowing in another to help the stricken , people. They stopped to open the boot store of the cooperative to give out rub ber boots which were the article most needed. Employees of the society rallied to save what they could from the inun dated branches and to supply the popu lation with food and bread. They even supplied private bakery shops so that the people could be fed. Since the flood there have been many who said that they did not know what the people would have done had not the cooperative come to their help. E. A. N. THE MINER COOPEEATOES HAVE ALWAYS HELPED OTHEE COOPEEATOES WILL OTHEES NOW HELP THE MINEE COOPEEATOES IN THEIE GREAT NEED? Since April 1, 1927, these miners of Western Pennsylvania and Eastern Ohio have been on strike: an entire year without work, without wages. In ten of these communities, the miners, realizing the importance of organizing as consumers as well as producers, have built strong cooperative societies. They maintain not only their union locals but also their cooperative stores. Five of these stores are in the Eastern Ohio territory, where the U. M. W. Union has riven almost no relief as yet. Five are in Western Pennsylvania, where thousands of the workers have been evicted months ago from their homes and are living in barracks. These people need MONEY, FOOD, CLOTHING. MONEY. Send it direct to the League, 167 West 12th St., N. Y. City. Make checks payable to Treasurer, Cooperators' Relief Committee. Distribution will be made to the various cooperatives in proportion to the membership and the local need. The cooperatives will distribute to those who are most in need in each community. (Colston E. Warne, one of our Directors, is spending much time in the strike area, is thoroughly familiar with the situation, and will advise us constantly.) CLOTHING. Send it to Cooperators' Belief Committee, New Cooperative Company, DHlonvale, Ohio. This society, as the largest in the territory, has undertaken to distribute clothing and food among all these ten communities. POOD. There are cooperatives in the Eastern part of the country, stores and bakeries, which have stocks of foodstuffs, in good condition, but which for local reasons cannot be moved readily. Such food should also be sent to Dillon- vale for further distribution. In aiding the miner cooperators, you not only help destitute men, women and children; you not only help preserve the miners' union; you also help preserve the miners' cooperatives, several of which are virtually at the point of failure. The Workingmen 's Cooperative Company of Cleveland has already contributed $250 to these striker-cooperators, the United Cooperative Society of Maynard, Mass., $100, the Italian-American Family Society of Clifton, N. J., $50, the Stelton Cooperative Association, Stelton, N. J., $117.70, the Workingmen's Cooperative Bakery, Lynn, Mass., 10 barrels of flour, and other societies smaller amounts. How many other cooperatives are going to help? Many agencies are extending general aid to striking miners. If the cooperators of the country do not make it their business to help the cooperators and their stores no one else will. In seven of these ten communities (or five of the eight societies) the local cooperators are, or have until recently, been affiliated with The League, supporting the common effort to1 build a national cooperative movement. The New Cooperative Company (at Dillonvale, Bradley and Piney Forks, Ohio), is one of the six largest store societies- in the United States, has sent delegates to every national Congress of The League, and has contributed liberally to other cooperative societies which were in need. The other four societies which have had affiliation with The League are the Midway Cooperative Association, Fairpoint, Ohio, Union Cooperative Store Company, Neffs, Ohio, Morann Cooperative Association, Morann, Pa., and Clarence Cooperative Association, Clarence, Pa. The three unaffiliated societies are Avella Cooperative Association, Atlantic Cooperative Association, and Broadtop Coopera tive Association (at Defiance), all in Pennsylvania. COOPERATION COOPERATION 73 News and Comment LLANO RECEIVERSHIP REVERSED In COOPERATION for August, 1927, an article appeared telling of the re ceivership appointed to administer the affairs of Llano Colony. The case was appealed to the Supreme Court, which reversed that decision. Extracts from the statement of the Supreme Court follow: "Plaintiff does not claim to be a cred itor of the corporation, but sues for the appointment of a receiver as a stock holder. The act governing the appoint ment of receivers for corporations in this State is Act No. 159 of 1898. The grounds for their appointment are stated in the act in eleven paragraphs. Of these, only five confer the right on a stockholder to sue for the appointment of a receiver. . . . "Of these grounds for the appoint ment of a receiver the first is not perti nent here. . . . The ground, designated as the third, is also not pertinent. . . . The ground, designated as the seventh, is also not pertinent. . . . This leaves the ground designated as No. 2, relative to gross mismanagement, the wasting and misusing of the company's assets, and the commission of acts ultra vires by the corporation's officers and di rectors, and the ground designated as No. 11, relative to the majority of the stockholders violating the charter rights of the minority, and thereby putting their interests in imminent danger, as the grounds on which plaintiff must de pend ... to obtain the appointment of a receiver. "The foregoing conclusion disposes • of the alleged insolvency of the corpora tion as ground for the appointment of a receiver, upon which ground some stress has been laid by plaintiff. That ground is available only to a creditor suing as such. ... It appears that when the company moved to this State it had very few assets left, and was considerably in debted. A large part of the indebtedness that then existed . . . has been paid. The corporation now owns considerable land and personal property, and so far as the record discloses has progressed 1 since it has been here, especially under 1 the present management. While it owes ' large amounts of money, yet the evidence 'shows that this indebtedness, with the 'exception of a small claim, concerning which some dispute arose, is not press ing. In fact, there is evidence in the 'record which, not including liability on 'the stock, shows that the corporation at •the time of the trial of this case was ^solvent. We therefore conclude that the evidence on the question of insolvency 'tends rather to show good management 'than to show the contrary. * "... the record makes it clear that the corporation has been conducted on a .communistic or cooperative basis from its creation, and that its purpose in 'reality is, and has been, to colonize its 'members as far as possible, to the end that all might work for the benefit of the whole, and thereby improve their living conditions by conducting the vari ous businesses and callings authorized 'by the charter. This cooperative policy has been kept paramount at all times. . . . ' "As relates to the failure to keep a full set of books, it appears that while books are kept, yet they are not so kept as to show the cost of production in the various departments of the company. ... "When the plan upon which this cor poration is and always has been- con ducted is considered,—a plan which we have said was known to all who sub scribed to its stock,—when it is con sidered that this plan does not have in View primarily the declaration of divi dends, but better living conditions for stockholders residing in the colony, that the production is largely or entirely con sumed by the membership, who live as it were out of a common treasury, the im portance of keeping a full set of books ceases, and the failure to keep such a set should not be considered gross mis management, calling for the appointment of a receiver. . . . "So far as relates to the carrying of insurance, it appears that the company carries no insurance. . . . The company owns considerable property, and con siders it more in keeping with its pnii- s to carry its own risks, and desires o so. We find no ground for the appointment of a receiver here. . . . "With respect to the granting of a nrtgage to secure members of the board "f directors, the record shows that there °,as a resolution passed by the board to •uithorize the granting of a mortgage to ' ure certain members of the board and other stockholders who were not mem bers of it, residing in the colony, for money loaned by them to the corpora tion "The evidence before us justifies the conclusion that the loans were actually made, and that the mortgage was granted to secure the loans, though the notes were not delivered until about the time of the filing of this suit. There is no reason why a corporation cannot borrow money from one of its directors and secure the loan by mortgage. . . . "In addition to the foregoing causes, deemed sufficient by the trial judge, we have considered the manner in which the Llano Colonist was published, which (.•(insisted in the publication of articles overstating the living and other condi tions in the colony; the punishment of two juveniles by the board of directors for burglary and larceny; the permitting of persons in some instances to enter the organization without making the cash payment for stock, the corporation rely ing on their paying for the stock by work; the acceptance by the corporation from a member of the colony of money received by the member from the school board, for teaching, when the member had taught only a part of the time for which he was paid; the alleged cancella tion of debts to the corporation by the president, without authority; and the failure to pay a severance tax on timber, all of which are urged by plaintiff as calling for the appointment of a receiver, under the allegations of his petition showing mismanagement and the com mission of acts ultra vires. 'Cause is not here shown for the ap pointment of a receiver. . . . "For the reasons assigned, the judg- Ment appealed from is annulled and set aside, and plaintiff's demands are now [ejected, plaintiff to pay the costs in lK|tli courts." FRANKLIN CREAMERY ASSOCIATION The Audit Report submitted by C. Ward Clarke, Accountant for America's largest consumers' cooperative society, bulks almost as large as one of these popular Home Journals that are to be found on every news stand (though the contents are much more interesting to the few citizens of the Republic who are still concerned about social and economic problems); and if an effort were to be made to reproduce it in COOPERATION in the form of a serial, half the maga zine would be given over to this one particular task for the next six or eight issues. Here is room only for half a dozen of the high lights blazoned forth to the Annual Members' Meeting, January 28. Current assets (at $339,082) are three times current liabilities. The real estate, machinery, equipment and furniture are worth $1,111,007. Total of all assets is $1,530,513. Outstanding capital stock is $951,100, and the reserve fund set aside out of gain for the six years totals $87,612, making a total "Own Capital" (before adding any of the gain for 1927), $1,038,712. Income for the year was $3,341,740 (whereas in 1926 it was $3,398,659), but the net gain last year was $67,499 (while it was only $57,710 in 1926). More than half the business is milk sales, while cream sales and butter sales are second in importance (more than $500,000 each). Ice cream business came to $244,- 600. The balance of income is from sales of 'buttermilk, skimmed milk, cheese, certified milk, Franco, and eggs. It is the ice cream department which is most profitable, however, for here a net gain of $30,082 is recorded, nearly half of the entire gain. Sales promotion and educational ex penses were $8,525; $3,321 was donated during the 12 months. - All directors were re-elected at the meeting. The shareholders also adopted unanimously the following resolution: "Whereas the policy of political and re ligious neutrality has been long an established policy of the International Cooperative Alliance and nearly all of its affiliated national organiza tions ; and 74 COOPERATION COOPERATION 75 "Whereas this policy has been adopted alsq by the Board of Directors of The Cooperative League; and | "Whereas we "believe this policy to "be the only sound and sane policy on which the per-i manent success and continued growth o>f ou:1 organization can lie based; "BE IT THEREFORE RESOLVED, That we, the members and stockholders of the Franklin Co operative Creamery Association, in our Ninth Annual Meeting assembled, hereby declare our adherence and support to this policy of strict political and religious neutrality and that we1 hereby instruct our Board of Directors to pro tect our organization by keeping it away from any connections or affiliations 'which may throw it into the turmoil of political or religious controversies and thus jeopardize the results' that we have achieved through many years' zealous and patient work by limiting our activi-j ties, as a cooperative organization, strictly to' the economic field." | OUR LARGEST STORE SOCIETY The Soo Cooperative Mercantile Asso ciation had its best year in 1927. There are still the eight stores (same number as Consumers' Cooperative Services of New York has with its cafeterias and foodshops); but they have done more business than a year ago, and with a greater net gain. In fact, the Soo is the first cooperative store association in the country to reach the $600,000 mark in sales. It went to $602,847, and the net gain was $39,886. Since first organized in 1913, this Association has returned as interest on capital stock, rebates to purchasers, and bonuses to employees, $176,423. And no one knows how much it has saved the people of the city by keeping the prices of bakery products, groceries and meats within reasonable limits. The Sault Ste Marie Association has just become an active member of the Northern States League. UNITED WORKERS COOPERATIVE ASSOCIATION This association, with head offices in New York, is doubtless the fastest grow ing cooperative in the country. At the end of 1927 the audited report shows total resources of $4,299,341. There are more than four million dollars worth of real estate in this total. Aggregate paid-in capital, preferred stock, tenants' investment and earned surplus is $673 640. The following indicates the number and size of the enterprises in which this workers ' society is engaged : Gross Income 1927 Rentals of Real Estate Dept. (10 months) ............. $161,088 Camp Nitgedaiget (Beacon, N. Y.) ................... 113i558 Nine Stores (4 months) ...... 88 740 Finance Corporation (Interest Income) ................. 5,335 Ice Business (5 months) ...... 3,375 Kindergarten (4 months) ..... 2,49ft Medical Center (S~y2 months) . 1/734 School (4 months) ........... 1^37 Literature . . . .............. 1,255 Dental Clinic (2 months) .... 751 Lectures (3 months) ......... 557 Gymnasium (3 months) ...... 350 Total Income ............. $381.116 The above rental income is for the first block of houses only and for only about ten months. Total rental income for both blocks of houses which are now (March, 1928) occupied will be $360,000 annually. Library, Play ground and Youth's Club are also bein